Confederate Civil War letter with content about the “20 Negro Law" and conscription, written by 39 year-old William Pemberton Stanback. William lived on a farm in Richmond county, North Carolina during the Civil War.
In this 2pp letter, written to his House of Commons representative in 1863, William expresses his dissatisfaction with the Confederate Congress’s “Twenty Negro Law” and associated conscription acts. In order to prevent events similar to Nat Turner’s revolt, the Confederate Congress passed a Second Conscription Act, which included a piece of legislation that exempted from military service one white overseer for every 20 enslaved people on a plantation, “to secure the proper police of the country.” This would allow enough white males to stay home to defend against a slave rebellion, and was popularly known as the “Twenty Negro Law.”

This rule was very unpopular among poorer residents, who called it evidence of a rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight. The collective effect of these conscription statutes, according to Stanback, disproportionately caused North Carolina to send more troops into the Confederate army than other states. He urges his delegate to champion a plan proposed by North Carolina’s Chief Justice to ensure that North Carolina do no less, but no more than any other state to supply troops.

Stanback writes in part:

“The 20 Negro Act was never a favorite act with me. I was always fearful it would array one class against the other which they have cause to complain, but I do think our State should have some act that will in future put her on an equal footing with the other States and I do think the Legislature should see to it that North Carolina is not required to do more than her proportional share. I would not have her to do less”

The letter is written in ink on both sides of a rough piece of paper - Stanback actually apologizes for the quality, a consequence of the Union blockade. It is in very good condition.



[African-American History, Slave, Slavery, Abolition, Abolitionist, Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Union, Confederate, Document, Letter]