WHO ARE EXEMPT FROM THE DRAFT? (Published 1863) (2024)

FAQs

Who was exempt from the draft? ›

Certain elected officials, exempt so long as they continue to hold office. Veterans, generally exempt from service in peacetime draft. Immigrants and dual nationals in some cases may be exempt from U.S. military service depending upon their place of residence and country of citizenship.

Exemptions were granted to men who served in national and state governments; to men who worked in heavy industry and mining; communications and transportation industries; and, various occupations which directly served the public such as teachers, ministers and druggists.

The various exemptions which draft-eligible men could use to avoid service, such as still being in university education or being medically unfit, were thought to allow better-connected and middle class men to evade the draft more easily than working class or minority men.

The New York draft riot was also closely associated with racial competition for jobs. Northern labour feared that emancipation of slaves would cause an influx of African American workers from the South, and employers did in fact use black workers as strikebreakers during this period.

For example, individuals with a history of asthma, severe allergies, or certain mental health conditions may be exempted. Religious beliefs: Individuals who have strong religious beliefs that are incompatible with military service may be exempted.

Five days later, the Confederate government passed the Exemption Act, which excused from military service select government employees, workers deemed necessary to maintain society (such as teachers, railroad workers, skilled tradesmen, and ministers), and owners of twenty or more slaves.

Senator Henry Wilson, chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, sponsored the Conscription Act of 1863, which established the first national draft system and required registration by every male citizen and immigrant who had applied for citizenship between the ages of 20 and 45.

Those exempted from the draft included federal and state officials and judges, religious ministers, seminary students and any person who was found to be a “member of a well-recognized religious sect or organization …

Those whose occupations were critical to society or the war effort were exempt from military service, and until December 1863 a wealthy man could hire a substitute to serve in his place.

There were occupations that were exempt, teaching was not one of them. These are the relevant classifications based on “occupation”: Class I –C Member for the Armed Forces of the United States, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, or the Public Health Service.

Can a 50 year old man be drafted? ›

All men from the ages of 18 to 64 years will now be eligible for the draft, according to a decision made by congressional committees on December 16, now including men with families who might have previously been exempt because of old age or boys fresh out of school.

At what age can you not be drafted into the military? The Selective Service System mandates that men aged 18-25 register for a potential draft. After turning 26, they are no longer eligible to be drafted.

The New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863), sometimes referred to as the Manhattan draft riots and known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ...

The Enrollment Act of 1863 (12 Stat. 731, enacted March 3, 1863) also known as the Civil War Military Draft Act, was an Act passed by the United States Congress during the American Civil War to provide fresh manpower for the Union Army. The Act was the first genuine national conscription law.

If such an exemption could not be obtained, the draftee could hire a substitute to take his place or pay a $300 commutation fee (which typically only the wealthy could afford) that allowed him to return home. Substitutes tended to be young men of 18 or 19 years who were old enough to serve but too young to be drafted.

Per the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (Public Law 76–783, 54 Statute 885), Section 5, Exemptions or Deferments from Liability to Serve: Persons currently in the public health service, or active-duty military (including cadets and midshipmen). Current Federal and State elected officials and judges.

No one is drafted in the United States. It is an all-volunteer Force. Most people do not qualify for service. An adult felon will unlikely be eligible to serve.

If a draft were reinstituted your question would be answered as YES, celebrities can be drafted. Example: Elvis Presley was drafted into the Army. Yes. During World War II, many Hollywood actors were either drafted into the US Army, or they enlisted.