Confederate Draft.

This is coolbert:

Each and every time you watch the documentary "THE CIVIL WAR" by Ken Burns you learn something new.

Here regarding the CONFEDERATE DRAFT! Military conscription as practiced during the American Civil War by those states in rebellion:

"The first general American military draft was enacted by the Confederate government on April 16, 1862, more than a year before the federal government did the same. The Confederacy took this step because it had to; its territory was being assailed on every front by overwhelming numbers, and the defending armies needed men to fill the ranks. The compulsory-service law was very unpopular in the South because it was viewed as a usurpation of the rights of individuals by the central government, one of the reasons the South went to war in the first place."

"Under the Conscription Act, all healthy white men between the ages of 18 and 35 were liable for a three year term of service. The act also extended the terms of enlistment for all one-year soldiers to three years. A September 1862 amendment raised the age limit to 45, and February 1864, the limits were extended to range between 17 and 50. Exempted from the draft were men employed in certain occupations considered to be most valuable for the home front, such as railroad and river workers, civil officials, telegraph operators, miners, druggists and teachers. On October 11, the Confederate Congress amended the draft law to exempt anyone who owned 20 or more slaves. Further, until the practice was abolished in December 1863, a rich drafted man could hire a substitute to take his place in the ranks, an unfair practice that brought on charges of class discrimination."

Overbearing and draconian methods PROMULGATED by the central government of the Confederacy. STATES RIGHTS THAT VERY REASON AS PURPORTEDLY GIVEN FOR SECESSION SET ASIDE BY THE EXIGENCIES OF WAR!!

Sam Watkins did not approve.

coolbert.