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Is that a fair comparison? Was the United States currency considered a debt? I was merely alluding to the national debt, in numeric dollars, listed at the end of the war.

The U.S. notes were redeemable in gold I believe. The confederate notes were not, or if they were in theory there was no gold to redeem them with.

1/3 to 1/4 of the Confederate army being conscripts is significant, yes, though I'd be curious to see what percentage of each army was made up of non-Americans (i.e., foreigners).

The percentage of foreign born in the U.S. army was much higher of course, because the percentage of foreign born people in the North was much higher. The 1870 census, which is available on line, shows that the percentage of the foreign born population in the southern states was miniscule, less than 5 percent I believe. The percentage in 1860 was most likely very low as well. Immigrants were not attracted to the south since they already had their own form of cheap labor - slaves. All in all the percentage of the Union army not born in the U.S. was about 25% with the largest numbers coming from Germany and the second largest from Ireland. By far the largest number of Union soldiers were U.S. born of English extraction (1 million or around 45%} and the second was African American (about 20%).

The U.S. notes were redeemable in gold I believe. The confederate notes were not, or if they were in theory there was no gold to redeem them with.

Fair enough - Though, as I recall, U.S. notes weren't redeemable for gold for the duration of the War. The Confederate notes were only redeemable for gold beyond the successful conclusion of the war. The difference, as LS has pointed out, is that the Southern government did not have enough gold to pay out their promissory notes. (I had thought I read somewhere that Southern notes were also promissory towards cotton, but I can't find it offhand - perhaps it was merely a figment of my imagination.)

The percentage of foreign born in the U.S. army was much higher of course, because the percentage of foreign born people in the North was much higher.

Yes, potentially, but the Federal government was also actively involved in recruiting additional soldiers overseas. (Mercenaries, if you will.) I like to point out that example, to compare it with the way the British waged war against America in 1812 - The tactics used by the British seem to compare very well with the tactics used by the Northern army.

The 1870 census, which is available on line, shows that the percentage of the foreign born population in the southern states was miniscule, less than 5 percent I believe. The percentage in 1860 was most likely very low as well. Immigrants were not attracted to the south since they already had their own form of cheap labor - slaves.

That is a very fine point. For once, I have nothing to argue. I thought I'd just point that out. ;)

All in all the percentage of the Union army not born in the U.S. was about 25% with the largest numbers coming from Germany and the second largest from Ireland. By far the largest number of Union soldiers were U.S. born of English extraction (1 million or around 45%} and the second was African American (about 20%).

Thanks for the info. 25% seems lower than what I'd heard, but I'm probably mistaken. I'll just have to continue doing my research so I can do a better job of debating next time. :)

Regards,
~dt~