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Conscription, Conscientious Objection, and Draft Resistance in American History is the definitive history of conscription in America. It is the first book ever to consider the entire temporal sweep of conscription from pre-Revolutionary War colonial militia drafts through the end of the Vietnam era. Each chapter contains an examination of that era’s draft law, the actual workings of the conscription machinery, and relevant court decisions that shaped the draft in practice. In addition, the book describes the popular opposition to conscription: organized and unorganized, violent and nonviolent, public and clandestine, legal and illegal. Using sources never before utilized by historians, including government documents obtained in Freedom of Information Act requests, the book demonstrates how anti-conscription sentiment has been far deeper than is popularly appreciated.
Price: $150.00
Pages: 390
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Studies in Peace History
Publication Date:
28 September 2023
ISBN: 9789004515284
Format: Hardcover
"Elmer's narrative is clear and readable and could well serve as the basis for a university course on US conscription history and challenges to it. [...] It well deserves a place in the canon of American peace history." – Donald W. Maxwell, in: Peace & Change (May 7th, 2024), p. 1-4
“Jerry Elmer is the right writer to tell the story. At the age of 18 during the U.S. war in Vietnam, he publicly refused to register for the draft […] Elmer not only describes the conscription laws of each period and the ways in which COs (conscientious objectors) and resisters were treated, he provides lawyerly analyses of the Supreme Court challenges in each era.” – Arnie Alpert, in: Waging Nonviolence (December 1st, 2023)
“The book represents the first time anyone has presented the entire history of conscription in America, from pre-Revolutionary War militias through the end of the draft, in January 1973… original sources include government documents obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests, sources that have been disregarded or missed by earlier historians writing on these topics.” – Margaret E. Curran, in: Rhode Island Bar Journal (November 2023)
"Elmer draws on his career as an attorney to argue his points as if he were trying to win a legal case. And he writes with passion. [...] The result is by far the most comprehensive and thorough book about conscription in the United States." – Robert Levering, in: Friends Journal (June/July 2024)
“Jerry Elmer is the right writer to tell the story. At the age of 18 during the U.S. war in Vietnam, he publicly refused to register for the draft […] Elmer not only describes the conscription laws of each period and the ways in which COs (conscientious objectors) and resisters were treated, he provides lawyerly analyses of the Supreme Court challenges in each era.” – Arnie Alpert, in: Waging Nonviolence (December 1st, 2023)
“The book represents the first time anyone has presented the entire history of conscription in America, from pre-Revolutionary War militias through the end of the draft, in January 1973… original sources include government documents obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests, sources that have been disregarded or missed by earlier historians writing on these topics.” – Margaret E. Curran, in: Rhode Island Bar Journal (November 2023)
"Elmer draws on his career as an attorney to argue his points as if he were trying to win a legal case. And he writes with passion. [...] The result is by far the most comprehensive and thorough book about conscription in the United States." – Robert Levering, in: Friends Journal (June/July 2024)
Jerry Elmer was a Vietnam-era draft resister and a national leader in the peace movement. Later, he was the only convicted felon in his class at Harvard Law School. He has published extensively on peace movements and legal issues.