Editing Draft evasion (section)

====Civil War====
{{See also|Confederate Conscription Acts 1862–1864}}
[[File:Resistance to Confederate conscription.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Parody of Confederate troops forcing a pro-Union Southerner (left foreground) and other reluctant Southerners to comply with the Confederate draft, c. 1862.<ref>{{cite web |work=Prints & Photographs Online Catalog |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661642 |title=Southern 'Volunteers' |year=1862 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref>]]

Both the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] (the North) and the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] (the South) instituted drafts during the [[American Civil War]] – and both drafts were often evaded.<ref name=Bell /> In the North, evaders were most numerous among poor Irish immigrants. In the South, evaders were most numerous in hill country and in certain other parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia.<ref name=Bell />

Resistance to the draft was sometimes violent. In the North, nearly 100 draft enrollment officers were injured in attacks.<ref name=Bell /> [[New York City draft riots|Anti-draft riots in New York City in 1863]] lasted several days and resulted in up to 120 deaths and 2,000 injuries.<ref name=Bell />

According to historian David Williams, by 1864 the Southern draft had become virtually unenforceable.<ref>Williams, David (2008). ''Bitterly Divided: The South's Inner Civil War''. New York: The New Press, p.&nbsp;2. {{ISBN|978-1-59558-108-2}}.</ref> Some believe that draft evasion in the South, where manpower was scarcer than in the North, contributed to the Confederate defeat.<ref name=Bell />