Missing class

Since I am missing class and need to provide more for the blog. Here are my answers to the questions that Professor Rockman presented:

 

1. My essay is based around research that I did in the Rhode Island State Archives on substitutions during the civil war. In 1863 the union was running low on men and recruiting was not going well. So Congress instituted the first fully federal draft and passed the Enrollment and Conscription Act. Many citizens did not like this because they felt that it was an encroachment on their rights and that it was even unconstitutional for the federal government to pass this law. But since Abraham Lincoln clearly did not care much about following the constitution the act was executed anyway. The part of the act that really caused trouble was that you could get out of service if you found a substitute, which would require paying him, or paid $300 (about a years pay for a standard worker).

            In reaction to the draft riots start erupting, most notably in New York City where class differences are most severe. The rioters destroyed a ton of property and kill a large number of people, focusing on the wealthy and blacks, essentially controlling the city for four days. These actions caused wealthy men and women, along with blacks, to flee New York. Riots erupted in surrounding cities as well as Boston. However in Rhode Island nothing really happened. My paper attempts to address why. When I looked at the substitution papers, which included the substitutes name, place of origin, age, height, complexion, and signature (if they could write their own), I found some interesting information especially about the men that were being substituted.

I had to use the Providence directory to find out more information about the men that were being substituted, but found that some were not in the directory, some did not own their own homes, and some did the same jobs that the substitutes did. In my paper I attempt to argue that not only does this lack of socio-economic differences exist, but that along with the fact that Rhode Island is such a closely-knit state, at least comparatively, is why there is a lack of working class unrest. 

 

2. Although I believe this is an idea that we have discussed at great lengths in class, when writing and researching history one must be wary of finding facts that fit an argument. I went into my research thinking that there would be big difference between the substitutes and those being substituted, and was surprised to find there was not, but was looking for those differences for a long time. I believe what I learned the most from the research, as well as many of our class discussions, is to be cautious of others writing that could be falling into that trap, consciously or not.  

 

3. How important is one’s job, housing, etc. in defining one class, when there can be other factors such as family history and money that are unseen in archival information? What type of person should I consider John E. Bowen a blacksmith that boards at 90 Charles?

 

 

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