IV.

Conscription in the United States

In the United States, conscription was based on the colonial tradition of the militia, in which all able-bodied men, usually those between 16 and 60 years of age, were compelled to possess a weapon; to register on the lists of those available for service, called muster rolls; to train periodically with a unit; and to be liable for service. Forces raised for war consisted of volunteers, sometimes enticed by promises of land, money, or clothing. Such rewards were called bounties. If insufficient numbers came forward, however, men were drafted, usually by a modified lottery from the muster rolls. Married men, officials, teachers, and others were exempted. In February 1778, during the American Revolution, Congress faced a critical manpower shortage in the Continental Army and urged all the states to draft men. The entrance of France into the war made such action unnecessary, although conscription was practiced from time to time in the individual states to meet quotas. The Militia Act of 1792 made it obligatory for all free, white male citizens, 18 to 45 years old, to train and serve in the militia. This system soon declined, and volunteers provided the manpower for the War of 1812 and the Mexican War (1846-1848).

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), several states threatened to conscript soldiers as a means of stimulating volunteering. The Conscription Act of 1863 gave the president authority to draft men between the ages of 20 and 45 years, but widespread opposition and increased volunteering provoked by the measure suspended its implementation. The Confederate states enacted the Conscription Act of 1862, drafting men 18 to 35, but the exemptions and substitutions allowed made it less than universal in application.

Increasing numbers of men were obtained for the Union forces by the Draft Act of 1863, sometimes called the Enrollment Act. Applying to all men between the ages 20 and 35 and to those unmarried men between 35 and 45, it was designed to prompt additional volunteers. The act provided for draft evasion by permitting substitution, by which a drafted man could hire another to serve for him, and by commutation, through which a drafted man could pay $300 for his release. Although it ignited violent draft riots, especially those that occurred in New York City in July 1863, the law established the principles that every citizen had an obligation to defend the nation and that the federal government could call citizens to service directly without resorting to state action.