In 1962 Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation that freed some slaves in only certain areas. Which was also only a warning to give the confederate states to surrender or stop being rebellious. Then in 1963 he officially issued the Emancipation proclamation which freed all slaves from any confederate state which allowed them to go to states like New York. Were they coming with the same intensions as the Irish, to gain the well-known 'American Dream'. With the Civil War still in place the united states need men to fight. Which is where the "Enrollment Act " comes in