Why I Chose the Selective Service Act and Draft

I chose the selective service act and draft for many reasons. One was because during these times many Americans felt that there rights were being taken away because all men between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five, had to register in the military. I see this as taking rights because those who didn’t want to go were either put in jail or charged a big fine for bail of their jail time. That is why I believe that the draft and selective service interfered with Americans rights and responsibilities. Making it a big historical event in which the government inflicted on the rights of all American who participated in these drafts and selective service acts.

The first selective service act was approved in 1917 by President Woodrow Wilson and U.S congress . This act was called conscription this meant that all men between the age of twenty-one and thirty had to register in the U.S military. President Wilson declared that whoever failed to meet the standards of registering would be charged with misdemeanor and put in jail for no more than a year . One famous person who refused to go into the draft was professional boxer Muhammad Ali. When he refused to go he had to pay a fine of ten thousand dollars and five years in prison. Some people of the draft could not pass the physical part of the army but still were sent out. Thousand’s untrained soldiers were sent to war because of the lack of troops the U.S had in the war zone.

Many people were concerned with conscription because they feared it would cause civil disturbance in practice . The reason civil disturbance was a concern was because some people felt as the government was taking away Americans rights by forcing them to be a part of the draft of 1917. The draft cards were simply fi...

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...ake when many of the men never really wanted to go but had to because they were chosen.

Therefore the government did in some way force all these men into war and taking their freedom forcing them to put their lives at risk instead of allowing them to pursue the American dream. Making it almost as fact that these selective service acts and drafts did in fact interfere with the freedoms of many Americans. That is how the U.S government took away rights from thousands of Americans who did not want to serve in the military and had no chose or the opportunity to pursue the American dream or live free because they were forced to leave home and be stationed wherever they are needed to help in the war because our numbers of our militaries were very low and we feared we would lose the war because of our small numbers in combat implementing the selective services and drafts.