These artifacts from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard illuminate the experience of the Citizen Soldier in American history.
 

Today’s volunteer army consists of soldiers who have a strong sense of civic responsibility and patriotism, and have responded to the incentives that our country has provided for their training, education, and support. History points to how the Citizen Soldier role has evolved alongside both the nation’s greater culture and international affairs. During the American Revolution era, the United States relied on state militia: an all-volunteer force organized under the authority of each individual state. After Congress rejected a “draft” in 1814, it introduced cash and land bounties for recruits. By the Mexican War of 1846, most soldiers were volunteers in part due to these rewards. Facing a volunteer shortage at the height of the Civil War (1861-1865), the federal government created the Enrollment Act (1863), which called for a national draft.

 

With the Selective Service Act (1917), the conscription system—allowing very few exceptions and prohibiting substitutions—once again placed more emphasis on civic values. All eligible males were required to register with the local draft boards that would eventually conduct conscription during World War I (1914-1918). The Selective Service Training Act (1940) ordered all males ages 21 to 30 to register, in anticipation of another draft. World War II (1939-1945) necessitated both a drive to increase enlistments and an enactment of the draft. The continued rebuilding and occupation of European countries and Japan as well as the Korean War (1950-1953) required the United States to maintain a large standing army. Later, as public displeasure with the Vietnam War increased, so did potential draftees’ resistance to conscription.

 

With the official abolition of the draft in 1973, the United States’ military once again became an all-volunteer institution. Today it consists of both National Guard and Reserve units as well as a full-time standing force of volunteers.