The Draft

Filmmaker Aaron Matthews' PBS-aired documentary examines the tortured history of military conscription in America. The first attempt to create a draft began with George Washington during the Revolutionary War, but the Continental Congress quickly rejected the idea. Both sides in the Civil War instituted a draft, which was grudgingly accepted in the South, but in the North many wealthy men paid substitutes to take their places in battle (anti-draft demonstrations in New York City in July 1863 devolved into a riot that viciously targeted the city's black community). In World War I, the federal government instituted the Selective Service Act, which was designed to avoid the inequities and defects of Civil War-era conscription. The draft continued during World War II, remaining in place until protests emerged over the Vietnam War, as well as the ability of mostly upper-class whites to gain deferments or obtain domestic National Guard positions. The anti-war movement during the late 1960s and early ‘70s caused a huge disruption in American society, leading President Nixon to end the draft in 1971. But the all-volunteer military that emerged in the following decades found itself strained to the fraying point with extended warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq, requiring multiple tours of duty from military personnel and the deployment of National Guard regiments. A well-researched and smartly produced film, The Draft offers a comprehensive overview of the draft's place in U.S. history, while also examining the possibility of its return in the future. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (P. Hall)