Militia Act of 1862

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Militia Act of 1862

Long title	An Act to amend the Act calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections, and repel Invasions, approved February twenty-eight, seventeen hundred and ninety-five, and the Acts amendatory thereof, and for other Purposes.
Enacted by	the 37th United States Congress
Effective	July 17, 1862
Citations
Statutes at Large	12 Stat. 597
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 384 by Henry Wilson (R–MA) on July 8, 1862 Passed the Senate on July 15, 1862 (28-9) Passed the House on July 16, 1862 (30-77) Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on July 17, 1862
Major amendments
Militia Act of 1792, Chapter 28 Militia Act of 1792, Chapter 33

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Militia Act of 1862

The Militia Act of 1862 (12 Stat. 597, enacted July 17, 1862) was an Act of the 37th United States Congress, during the American Civil War, that authorized a militia draft within a state when the state could not meet its quota with volunteers.^{[citation needed]} The Act, for the first time, also allowed African-Americans to serve in the militias as soldiers and war laborers. Previous to it, since the Militia Acts of 1792, only white male citizens were permitted to participate in the militias.

The act was controversial. It was praised by many abolitionists as a first step toward equality, because it stipulated that black recruits could be soldiers or manual laborers. However, the Act enacted discrimination in pay and other areas. It provided that most black soldiers were to receive $10 a month, with a $3 reduction for clothing, which was almost half as was received by white soldiers who received $13. According to historian Eric Foner, however, the difference in pay stemmed from the fact that the legislation envisioned blacks mainly as military laborers freeing up whites for combat.^[1] Many regiments struggled for equal pay, some refusing any money until June 15, 1864, when Congress deleted that portion of the Militia Act and granted equal pay for all black soldiers.

The state-administered system set up by the Act failed in practice and in 1863 Congress passed the Enrollment Act, the first genuine national conscription law. The 1863 law required the enrollment of every male citizen and those immigrants who had filed for citizenship between ages 20 and 45 and making them liable for conscription.