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Article: Conscription and Recruitment
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CONSCRIPTION AND RECRUITMENT
CONSCRIPTION AND RECRUITMENT.
The U.S. armed services fills most of its manpower needs either through draft or recruitment. The draft is the selection of some of the male population for compulsory military service. It is a peculiarly American concept, distinct from the European practice of conscription, which involves the regularized training of the entire male population, generation after generation. But since the reorganization of the armed forces for peacetime service in 1787, the U.S. armed services have depended for the greatest number of their troops on recruitment by voluntary enlistment. Throughout the history of the armed services, the number of ...