Selective Service Act of 1917

Selective Service Act of 1917

Other short titles	Conscription Act of 1917 Enrollment Act of 1917
Long title	An Act to authorize the President to increase temporarily the military establishment of the United States.
Nicknames	Selective Draft Act of 1917
Enacted by	the 65th United States Congress
Effective	May 18, 1917
Citations
Public law	Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 65–12
Statutes at Large	40 Stat. 76, Chapter 15
Codification
Titles amended	50 U.S.C.: War and National Defense
U.S.C. sections created	50 U.S.C. Appendix §§ 201–211, 213, 214
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 3545 by Julius Kahn (R–CA) on April 27, 1917 Passed the House on April 28, 1917 (398–24) Passed the Senate on April 28, 1917 (81–8, in lieu of S. 1871) Reported by the joint conference committee on May 16, 1917; agreed to by the House on May 16, 1917 (198–179) and by the Senate on May 17, 1917 (65–8) Signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on May 18, 1917

The Selective Service Act of 1917 or Selective Draft Act (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 65–12, 40 Stat. 76, enacted May 18, 1917) authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription. It was envisioned in December 1916 and brought to President Woodrow Wilson's attention shortly after the break in relations with Germany in February 1917. The Act itself was drafted by then-Captain (later Brigadier General) Hugh S. Johnson after the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. The Act was canceled with the end of the war on November 11, 1918. The Act was upheld as constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 1918.^[1]