Trivia #5 Commutation (6/5/2014)

[godofredus]

A draftee could gain an exemption by paying a fee of $300 or by hiring a substitute.

 

[Copperhead-mi]

$300.

 

[FarawayFriend]

$300

"The passage of the nation's first military draft act, in March 1863, only worsened the situation. Not only did it allow men (presumably only the wealthy) to buy their way out of military service by paying a commutation fee of $300 (more than $5,500 in today's money), it also exempted blacks from the draft, as they were not yet considered American citizens."

From: http://www.history.com/news/four-days-of-fire-the-new-york-city-draft-riots

Not part of the question but an interesting further information:

"This amount, presumably a healthy sum in 1863, did not long remain the norm, for George Templeton Strong, pluckier than many of his contemporaries, paid a "big 'Dutch' boy of about twenty" $1,100 to be his "alter ego" in 1864."

From: http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1994/winter/civil-war-draft-records.html

 

[jchoagie]

$300

 

[reading48]

$300.00..Three Hundred Dollars
Or hire a substitute which could be more costly....

 

[BrrrBRRRR]

$300

 

[28thNewYork]

$300

 

[C.S.M 1861]

"The law also provided that a man could pay a "commutation fee" of $300 or hire a substitute to serve in his place." http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/23/opinion/l-the-draft-of-1863-065092.html

 

[John Winn]

Three hundred dollars.

Edit - Correct, John Winn. Welcome to the trivia game.

Hope you'll come back and play again.

Hoosier

 

[Seduzal]

By paying $300.00.

 

[sarladaise]

$ 300,--

 

[St Albans Raid]

Tonight's Civil War Trivia Question Value: 10 points.
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This question will be open until Monday at about 9:30am EDT
New Questions are Posted Every Night at 9:30pm EDT
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Please do not post your answers anywhere but in this forum! This includes you FACEBOOK users!
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Starting in March of 1863 the Union allowed draftees to buy their way out of military conscription by paying how much in commutation?
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Post your answers BELOW. Good Luck!
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If you have a Civil War book, or perhaps some other interesting Civil War product you'd like to promote by giving it away as a trivia prize, contact the Webmaster, Mike Kendra

 

[St Albans Raid]

$300.

 

[Ken Rich]

$300.00

 

[Karlos63]

$300

 

[Lt R. Blackwell 4th Texas]

300 dollars

 

[101combatvet]

$300 commutation fee

 

[CivilWarTalk]

$300.00 is correct!