First National Draft Law
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events from History: North American Series
- Categories: Government and Politics, Military History
- Subcategories: Generals, Military Officers, Soldiers, Wars, Battles, Laws, Acts, Legislation, American Civil War
- Curriculum: American Civil War & Reconstruction Era (1856-1877)
- Geographical Location: Washington, D.C.
- Date: March 3, 1863
Article abstract: The United States’ first conscription act taps Northern manpower to defeat the South.
Summary of Event
The firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, came at a time when the regular army numbered only about sixteen thousand officers and troops. The traditional method of increasing the size of the army was to expand the state militias and to form a volunteer emergency national army recruited through the states. The immediate response of President Abraham Lincoln to the firing on Fort Sumter was to call for seventy-five thousand militia...
[The entire page is 1512 words long]
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