In 1860, just a few years preceding the Civil war, the Union Army numbers totaled in about 16,000 men (Newell, 2014). To prepare for the unavoidable conflict with the Confederate States, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to enlist and in the next three years, congress authorized the acceptance of one million soldiers (Calabresi & Bobbit, 1978). To supplement this demand in man power, congress passed the Militia Act of 1862 which empowered the President to direct the States to utilize drafts of militia if a state did not fulfill the quotas for the Army; furthermore, the act was the beginning of the transition from state to federal authority in raising an army (Perri, 2013). Following the Militia Act, Congress passed the
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The main idea behind the principal of utility is to choose what will serve the greatest good for the greatest number; therefore, when trying to determine what will best serve the American people, it makes sense to raise an army with numbers that will adequately defend the Union. One might argue that conscription, or forced service, is a violation of the citizens’ rights; however, Article 1 section 8 of the United States Constitution grants congress the ability to “raise and support armies” and “call forth the Militia to… suppress insurrections”. The Article does not express the way the armies are to be raised so it is at congresses’ discretion as to how best address the situation. Congress passed the Militia Act of 1862 only after the number of volunteers began to dwindle and States quotas were not being met. However, the intent of the draft was not to force citizens to serve, but rather to stimulate volunteering. James McPherson (1988) described the draft as a “carrot and stick” method: where the stick being the threat of draft and the bounties offered as the carrot, which were offered at local, regional, and national levels of the government. The method was a success for nearly nine thousand men enlisted or provided substitutes (McPherson, 1988). The bottom line is for that in order for the Union to prevail in the …show more content…
The foundation of libertarian is that every person owns their own body and all relative possessions. Sandel (2007) described libertarianism as the belief that “as proprietors of our own person, each of us has the right to decide what to do with our own bodies and our labor, with the money we earn and the goods we possess,” (p.49). In this case, if a person has the means to avoid service, then they should have the right to. The application of a free market system in the drafting process allowed citizens to exercise their individual rights in how they would support the war effort. Furthermore, the options softened the blow from the draft because if Union supporters would have been forced to fight, it might have caused them to question their patriotism or even sympathize with the Confederate States. The option of substitution has such a precedence in previous wars that some viewed it as a right whereas the Confederate States repealed their substitution option in 1863 (McPherson,
The main idea behind the principal of utility is to choose what will serve the greatest good for the greatest number; therefore, when trying to determine what will best serve the American people, it makes sense to raise an army with numbers that will adequately defend the Union. One might argue that conscription, or forced service, is a violation of the citizens’ rights; however, Article 1 section 8 of the United States Constitution grants congress the ability to “raise and support armies” and “call forth the Militia to… suppress insurrections”. The Article does not express the way the armies are to be raised so it is at congresses’ discretion as to how best address the situation. Congress passed the Militia Act of 1862 only after the number of volunteers began to dwindle and States quotas were not being met. However, the intent of the draft was not to force citizens to serve, but rather to stimulate volunteering. James McPherson (1988) described the draft as a “carrot and stick” method: where the stick being the threat of draft and the bounties offered as the carrot, which were offered at local, regional, and national levels of the government. The method was a success for nearly nine thousand men enlisted or provided substitutes (McPherson, 1988). The bottom line is for that in order for the Union to prevail in the …show more content…
The foundation of libertarian is that every person owns their own body and all relative possessions. Sandel (2007) described libertarianism as the belief that “as proprietors of our own person, each of us has the right to decide what to do with our own bodies and our labor, with the money we earn and the goods we possess,” (p.49). In this case, if a person has the means to avoid service, then they should have the right to. The application of a free market system in the drafting process allowed citizens to exercise their individual rights in how they would support the war effort. Furthermore, the options softened the blow from the draft because if Union supporters would have been forced to fight, it might have caused them to question their patriotism or even sympathize with the Confederate States. The option of substitution has such a precedence in previous wars that some viewed it as a right whereas the Confederate States repealed their substitution option in 1863 (McPherson,