- Date:
- May 18, 1917 - July 2, 1980
- Location:
- United States
Selective Service Acts
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What are the Selective Service Acts?
The Selective Service Acts are U.S. federal laws that have instituted conscription, also known as compulsory military service. The first implementation of conscription in the U.S. occurred during the American Civil War (1861–65).
After the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, the Selective Service Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on May 18, 1917, which created the Selective Service System. As World War II raged in Europe and Asia, Congress narrowly passed the Selective Training and Service Act, which was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on September 16, 1940, instituting the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.
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Why were the Selective Service Acts created?
The Selective Service Acts, or U.S. federal laws that instituted conscription, were created in response to specific historical needs. The first implementation of conscription occurred during the American Civil War (1861–65).
As the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, the Selective Service Act was signed into law on May 18, 1917, to create the Selective Service System.
With Europe already engulfed in World War II, the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, the first peacetime draft, was signed into law to strengthen the unprepared U.S. armed forces. After World War II, the country retained the draft to counter potential Soviet aggression.
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Who is required to register for Selective Service in the United States?
In the United States, almost all male noncitizens between 18 and 25, including undocumented immigrants, refugees, and permanent residents, are required to register with the Selective Service System.
Full-time military personnel are exempt, but National Guard and Reserve members not on full-time active duty must register. Conscientious objectors also must register; however, if a draft is instituted, they can apply for exemption from military service based on religious or moral beliefs. Those who are hospitalized or incarcerated must register within 30 days of their release, and non-institutionalized disabled men who are capable of leaving their homes must also register.
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How do the Selective Service Acts work during wartime?
During wartime, the Selective Service Acts in the U.S. are federal laws that allow for conscription, or compulsory military service. The Selective Service System manages the induction of individuals into the armed forces.
Initially, these acts targeted men of certain age groups, but eventually expanded to include all able-bodied men between 18 and 45. The Selective Service System also manages the Alternative Service Program for conscientious objectors, who object to war due to moral or religious beliefs.
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What happens if someone does not register for Selective Service?
The Selective Service System mandates that almost all male noncitizens, including undocumented immigrants, refugees, and permanent residents, between the ages of 18 and 25, register with the Selective Service System.
If individuals fail to register, they will not be eligible for certain federal programs, including government jobs, job training, and federal student loans and grants. Many states have similar laws linking state benefits, such as driver's licenses, to Selective Service registration.
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How have the Selective Service Acts changed over time in American history?
The Selective Service Acts have undergone significant changes throughout American history. Conscription, or compulsory military service, was first implemented during the Civil War, but was suspended in 1865 and later reintroduced during World War I. The Selective Service Act of 1917 created a system to manage the induction of men into the armed forces, initially targeting those ages 21 to 30, but eventually expanding to include all able-bodied men ages 18 to 45.
As World War II loomed, the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 instituted the first peacetime draft, requiring males ages 21 to 36 to register. After the war, the act was reenacted in 1948 and reauthorized in 1951 as the Universal Military Training and Service Act, requiring all males ages 18 to 26 to register.
During the Vietnam War, the Selective Service System faced scrutiny due to deferments and growing antiwar sentiment. In 1969, an amendment returned selection by lottery to the draft process. Although the draft was suspended in 1973, registration was reinstated in 1980. Today, men ages 18 to 25 are required to register, and failure to comply can result in penalties.
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Selective Service Acts, U.S. federal laws that instituted conscription, or compulsory military service.
Conscription was first implemented in the United States during the American Civil War (1861–65). However, it was common for wealthy men to hire substitutes to fulfill their service obligation. In addition to employing conscription, the Union sought troops by offering cash rewards to enlistees through the bounty system. Both substitution and enticed enlistment led to widespread abuse, and “bounty jumpers” were a persistent drain on Northern manpower and finances. Support for conscription was far from universal in the North, and public resistance culminated in the Draft Riot of 1863, a racially charged four-day melee in which white rioters attacked federal buildings and African American workers in the streets of New York City. The draft was suspended with the end of the war in 1865, and it would not return for more than half a century.
As the United States had a peacetime army of just over 100,000 men, the reinstitution of conscription was an unsurprising result of U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917. The Selective Service Act, signed by Pres. Woodrow Wilson on May 18, 1917, created the Selective Service System, which managed the induction of some 2.8 million men into the armed forces over the next two years and abolished the much maligned bounty system. Initially targeting male citizens age 21 to 30, the draft was eventually expanded to include all able-bodied men age 18 to 45. American armed forces demobilized after the armistice of November 1918, and the number of men under arms diminished to prewar levels.
As World War II raged in Europe and Asia, Congress narrowly passed the Selective Training and Service Act, instituting the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the bill into law on September 16, 1940, and all males of ages 21 to 36 were required to register with the resurrected Selective Service System—although, for the first time, provisions were officially made for conscientious objectors. Some 45 million men registered and more than 10 million were inducted through the Selective Service System between November 1940 and October 1946.
The Selective Training and Service Act expired in March 1947, but Pres. Harry S. Truman, asserting that the peacetime army could not attract the numbers that it needed to uphold its global commitments, pushed for an extension of the draft. Congress obliged, and the Selective Service Act was reenacted in June 1948. A flood of volunteers prompted the Selective Service System to unofficially suspend the act with a “draft holiday” in early 1949. The act was scheduled to expire in June 1950, but the outbreak of the Korean War that month prompted Congress to extend it for another year. The Selective Service Act was reauthorized in 1951 as the Universal Military Training and Service Act, and all males age 18 to 26 were required to register for the draft. More than 1.5 million men were inducted into the armed services during the Korean War, and an additional 1.5 million were inducted between 1954 and 1961.
As the U.S. role in the Vietnam War expanded, the Selective Service System fell under scrutiny. A series of deferments, based on family status or academic standing, had been introduced over the previous decade. The merits of a given deferment request were weighed by an inductee’s local Selective Service board in a process that was highly subjective. As a result of these inconsistencies, as well as growing antiwar sentiment, in 1966 Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson commissioned a study to improve the Selective Service System. The resulting legislation, the Military Selective Service Act of 1967, rationalized the deferment system, but it did little to stifle public resistance to the draft. Increasingly, opponents of the war had taken to destroying their Selective Service registration certificates (draft cards) as statements of public protest. While protestors asserted that these acts amounted to symbolic expression protected by the First Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. O’Brien (1968) that the destruction of a draft card inhibited the furtherance of an important government objective that was unrelated to the stifling of unpopular speech. The decision severely curtailed the burning of draft cards as a form of protest, but the narrow scope of the ruling actually created a precedent that served to protect other forms of symbolic speech, such as flag burning (affirmed in the 1989 Supreme Court ruling Texas v. Johnson).
Johnson chose not to run for reelection in 1968, and the following year his successor, Pres. Richard M. Nixon, signed an amendment to the Military Selective Service Act that returned selection by lottery to the draft process for the first time since World War II. While this was portrayed as more equitable than the existing system of conscription by age (in which the oldest members of a given eligibility pool were selected first), public opinion had already soured on the draft. Between 1965 and 1973, some 1.7 million were inducted into the armed forces through the Selective Service System. During that same period, an estimated 500,000 men “dodged” the draft through methods both elaborate (fleeing the country) and mundane (simply refusing to respond to conscription notices). Ultimately, 200,000 men were charged with draft evasion, and some 8,000 were convicted. On January 27, 1973, the Department of Defense announced that it was suspending the draft, and the Military Selective Service Act expired that June.
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On January 21, 1977, as one of his first actions upon assuming office, Pres. Jimmy Carter issued a blanket pardon for all those who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War (the amnesty applied only to those civilians who had refused induction and not to the thousands of service members who had deserted or gone absent without leave). In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Carter reactivated the Military Selective Service Act by executive order on July 2, 1980. While it did not mandate military service, it did require that males age 18 to 26 register with the Selective Service System.
During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan criticized the reintroduction of registration and promised that, if elected, he would abolish the Selective Service System. While president, however, Reagan made no move to terminate the program. The Solomon Amendment (proposed by Rep. Gerald Solomon in 1982) compelled young men to comply with the Military Selective Service Act by making registration a prerequisite for federal student aid eligibility. The Thurmond Amendment (proposed by Sen. Strom Thurmond in 1985) did the same for federal jobs, and many states enacted laws that made registration a condition for obtaining or renewing a state driver’s license.
The Military Selective Service Act remains in effect, and noncompliance with it carries the risk of prosecution. However, there has not been an induction through the Selective Service System since June 1973. While there have been occasional efforts to reintroduce the draft—most notably in the period following the September 11 attacks—the U.S. military in the 21st century is an all-volunteer body.