Instructor Lisa Grundy
ENG 111-2W01
November 13, 2015
Military Conscription In the United States there have been a total of three military conscriptions. A conscription is a draft of national service, mostly military, in which citizens are mandated by the government to fulfill. The last draft call was held in the United States on December 7, 1972. Since than the United States military has been an all-volunteer military. Every U.S. citizen should be mandated to perform a mandatory minimum of two years of service regardless of gender. The United States military has been around since the Colonial ear. Some sort of voluntary or conscription has been established. In colonial times there was a call to arms. During the Revolutionary War, men were offered money and land in exchange for their service. This was not sufficient enough. General George Washington called on National Guards Men, also known as state militia. Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison all tried to set up a draft system. During the war of 1812 however, congress approves a full time military. Once again men were promised money and land for a 13 month commitment. This still does not …show more content…
Roosevelt signed the Selective Service Training Act, also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act. This is the first peacetime draft of its kind. The Selective Service Training Act states that all male citizens between the ages of 26 and 35 need to register for mandatory military service with local draft boards. While Europe was in the middle of World War II, President Roosevelt felt it necessary to prepare and train military service members. Once Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, roughly 10 million men were drafted using the Act. After World War II President Truman advises congress that the Selective Service Training Act decease to go back to an all voluntary military. Shortly after, at the beginning of the Cold War, he asks congress to reinstate the