LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. 1809-1865.
Document Signed ('Abraham Lincoln'), as President, 1p on conjoined leaves, 4to (248 x 196 mm), Washington, D.C., July 2, 1863, being a draft order for the Sixth district of the state of Massachusetts to furnish 1806 troops under the Enrollment Act of 1863, bound in brown boards, upper cover gilt-lettered.

LINCOLN SIGNED DRAFT ORDER FROM THE FIRST NATIONAL CONSCRIPTION.
The Enrollment Act of 1863 was the first genuine national conscription law, passed when the Union Army was facing a terrible shortage of men. Just a week and a half after this document was signed, the New York City draft riots began in lower Manhattan, with white working class men protesting their being forced into military service while the wealthier men could avoid it by paying a commutation fee to hire a substitute. The protesting soon erupted into violence with the rioters destroying public buildings, the homes of abolitionists or southern sympathizers, black homes and even the Colored Orphan Asylum at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue. Lincoln was forced to call in the Union Troops to quell the situation. It's estimated that approximately 120 people died during the several days, although some believe the number much higher, and property damage in the millions.
In full: 'I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy thereof, having taken into consideration the number of volunteers and militia furnished by and from the several States, including the State of Massachusetts, and the period of service of said volunteers and militia since the commencement of the present rebellion, in order to equalize the numbers among the Districts of the said States, and having considered and allowed for the number already furnished as aforesaid, and the time of their service aforesaid, do hereby assign one thousand eight hundred and six as the first proportional part of the quota of troops to be furnished by the Sixth District of the State of Massachusetts under this, the first call made by me of the State of Massachusetts, under the act approved March 3, 1863, entitled 'An Act for Enrolling and Calling out the National Forces, and for other purposes,' and, in pursuance of the act aforesaid, I order that a draft be made in the said Sixth District of the State of Massachusetts for the number of men herein assigned to said District, and Fifty Per Cent. In Addition.
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