In the North a rich person could hire a boy what to serve for him?

In the North, wealthy people hired all sorts of servants. They hired boys and girls, men and women. Various states slowly established mandatory school attendance laws. New York passed its mandatory school attendance law in 1874. Those laws put an end to child labor after they were enacted. Until that time, rich people had been able to purchase a child as a servant. That child would work for free until age 21. A form of slavery existed in the North.

During the Civil War, a person, who was drafted, could hire a replacement. Ireland and Germany had excess population. They proved a number of solders.