The Selective Service Act was the law passed by Congress in order to raise troops for the U. S. entry into World War I. Facing a requirement specified by General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force, to recruit 3 million men to alter the outcome of the war, men from the ages of 21 to 31 filled out their draft registration cards on June 5, 1917. More than 24 million men responded to the call, and local draft boards selected 6,400,000 of them to serve in the military. Hundreds of thousands more volunteered before the draft could call them up. No exemptions were allowed outside of those needed for vital wartime production. No one was allowed to hire a substitute, a difference from the Civil War practice.
President Woodrow Wilson had tried to rely on a public call to arms, as had been the tradition since America’s inception. In the Civil War, there had been antidraft riots, and Wilson was anxious to avoid social unrest. Many warned that the streets would run red with blood. On the actual day, however, most registered patriotically.
General Enoch Crowder was chosen head of the new Selective Service System. Under it, the local draft boards were organized to deflect criticism for selection from the federal government. George Creel, a social reformer, headed the committee. Using advertising methods, his committee convinced Americans to leave their isolationism behind and protect democracy from Germany.
Behind the legislative mechanism for preparedness was a network of organizations and individuals who had led the way for selective service. First, the Preparedness movement at the outbreak of the conflict in Europe tried to convince Americans of the need to improve military capability. Through literature, programs, and training camps, advocates urged the Wilson administration and the populace to take the German threat seriously. Events, especially German submarine warfare, aided their efforts until war was declared. The Committee eor Public Ineorma-tion, created by President Wilson shortly after the United States joined the war in 1917, raised public support for the war effort through propaganda. War posters, marching bands, and billboards celebrated those who “did their duty.” A darker side of the CPI encouraged and spread fear of Germans and German spies who, they said, had infiltrated the United States. to the CPI, the nation stood as one behind its war effort.
Locally, communities gave their soldiers farewell parties and parades. Draftees met citizens and loved ones waving flags, with bands playing farewell songs and girls spurring them on to victory against the dreaded Hun. Back at home, citizens bought liberty bonds, grew victory gardens, and worked in war factories to further the war effort. Some served in the Red Cross, helping to alleviate human suffering in the United States and abroad. They assisted over 300,000 American families with financial troubles and sought to ease the grief of families who had lost their relatives in war. America sent more than 13,000 of its women as Red Cross nurses overseas.
See also conscription.
Further reading: John Whiteclay Chambers, To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to America (New York: Free Press, 1987).
—Annamarie Edelen
World History
