The Draft: The Military Draft

They were brave and determined young men willing to volunteers to fight for their country. Contrary before the war, African-American was only trained to help with support duties and were not allowed to go on frontline or where white soldiers where. Many of them were facing the Jim Crow laws, racism, and segregation in the nation. But, it was not until 1940s when pressure came from the African-American leader to put more pressurize on President Franklin D. Roosevelt to allot the government to sponsor Black-men to be train as pilots. Even though, President Roosevelt approved the request of the African-American calls, some government officer still did not believe that African-American was fit to be a pilots.

In this document, African Americans impacted the war due to the amount of deaths and casualties which was about 30,000. "Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States." (Frederick Douglass) This quote states that once an African American begins to fight he is a citizen. It tells us once a black man is a soldier there is no doubt he has earned his citizenship. In the general orders document the African Americans had no say in the recruitment process.

But as time progressed, military service and draft in the Vietnam War, constructed many doubts amongst many Americans. The U.S. draft is controversial between many Americans opinions because of its unfairness. What is a draft and what happens in a draft? First of all a draft occurs only when there is a national crisis, a crisis which requires more troops than the volunteer military can supply (Veterans for Peace). This requires a joint effort between the congress and the president.

After the emancipation proclamation and the Plessy v. Ferguson Case, African-Americans lived in the United States segregated with unfair treatment and racism. This led to the rise of poor quality services and housing for their communities. They were also poorly treated at businesses, schools, and even in the military. The fight for quality and integration can be seen in World War Two, a few decades before the movement led by Dr. King. THE Tuskegee Airmen were pilots during World War Two that fought and served for the country.

Preceding the Civil War, people of color, especially African Americans were practically disenfranchised everywhere throughout all fifty states of the United States. The ratification of the fifteenth amendment in the Constitution gave all men, regardless of race, color, or previous state of servitude the right to vote. Even with the enactment of the fifteenth amendment, many states used numerous techniques to prevent people of color from voting. The obstacles that prevented Africans Americans from casting a ballot ranged from literacy tests, poll taxes, the grandfather clause, intimidation, threats, and even violence.

As the war rolled on, people became less enthusiastic to fight. The army created drafts requiring people enlist for war. At first, the drafts required men between the ages of 18 and 35, but as the end became unclear for both sides, the age pool was changed to men ages 17 to 50. The federal government established the Draft Act of 1863. This was the first time there was a law requiring people to fight.

1. What were the legal issues in this case? David Dunlap a 52 years old African American male applied for a job as a boilermaker with the Tennessee Valley Authority. Dunlap v Tennessee Valley Authority was a discrimination case brought to the District Court of Tennessee by David Dunlap for suspected unequal treatment and disparate impact. The suit claims that the Tennessee Valley Authority singled out Dunlap because he was African American.

Every child gets “The REAL Talk,” but every talk is different. For most African Americans the the talk includes how the world is not a fair place if a person is different, if African Americans want to get somewhere, they have to work twice as hard, and In the US last year, 223 African Americans were killed by police due to police brutality. One third of those people were unarmed, and should not have been seen as a threat, but they were still killed. 12 of these people were under the age of 18. African Americans should not have to be scared to go outside any day thinking they might not make it home.

In the midst of the war, over 179,000 African American soldiers served in the Union’s branches such as the navy, army, and support (Freeman and Jean). Many served as they believed this was a way to repay the Union in setting them free and possibly in the future could grant citizenship to them. Before the enlistment of African American soldiers, many laws prohibited the enlistment of African Americans (Freeman and Elise). This is surprising as many African American soldiers served in previous wars such as the American Revolution. Soon after President Lincoln gave his speech on the Emancipation Proclamation, he allowed many slaves to enlist in the Union military (Freeman and Elise).

This question has been an ongoing debate within politics and media since more military functions opened up for women. It has been said that women are not physically able to defend their country the way men can. Others argue that with new technical advancements the military do not have to relay solely on physical strength and that therefore women are just as qualified as men. While most western cultures strive for gender equality within society, the military is lagging behind. In order to understand why this is the case it is key to understand why people refer to someone as male or female, instead of a person.

When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865 his vice president, Andrew Johnson, was sworn into office, the first time ever a president had to take office because of the previous president being murdered. Andrew Johnson was a democrat, so he had major challenges when he took office. It didn’t help either that he was from Tennessee, a state that seceeded fromt the Union during the Civil War. In an effort to try and make friends in Congress with the Republicans Johnson agreed to deny representitives from southern states that seceeded from the Union to sit in Congress. This came to back fire on him because he was from Tennessee but because he elected to help the North during the Civil War the southern state representitives didn’t support him at all.