ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at newspaper coverage of conscription during an approximately seven-month period in 1863, encompassing the passage of the Union draft act and the New York City Draft Riots. Though proportionally few of the Civil War's soldiers would find themselves on the battlefield because of the draft, the press extensively reported the heated public debates concerning conscription, resistance to the draft, and the recruitment of immigrants and those of lower economic status. This vigorous reporting set an agenda for the nation's continuing deliberation of the war and the duty of the individual to serve, permanently shaping the memory of the conflict and the soldiers.
