4. The issue of free blacks in the Confederacy
The 1860 census recorded about 260,000 free blacks in the states which eventually comprised the Confederacy. In 1862 the Confederate government in Richmond instituted conscription, the first formal draft in North America, several months before quotas for men went out to the states of the Union. The Confederate draft laws underwent many changes over the course of the war as casualties and desertions drained manpower. One of the earliest regarding slaves was the exemption of young white men otherwise qualified for the draft, but needed at home to protect property on plantations holding 20 or more slaves.
The 20 Slave Law, as it was called, proved immensely unpopular among the non-slave holding population of the South. Viewed as a draft dodge for the scions of wealthier families, it generated widespread dissension. Further fueling the resistance to the draft among the poorer whites was the exemption of free blacks, since the Southern government opposed the idea of arming black troops. The idea of organized parties of armed and trained black soldiers terrified the whites of the South. In 1863, the government in Richmond extended the draft to free blacks, specifying that though they would be conscripted into the army, it would be in the non-armed labor parties supporting the troops. They received less pay, and were housed alongside the slaves accompanying the Confederate troops.