From Volunteer To Conscript

The American mobilization policy of manpower before the Civil War was the voluntary enlistment.The transition from the voluntary enlistment to the compulsory military service went through a long historical process. Under the conduction of historical materialism, the thesis draws the research methods and results of sociology, politics, military science and so on, adopts the methods of analysis and induction. The main points are as follows:In colonial times, the North American confronted a perilous position both at home and abroad,so they were badly in need of an army to defend themselves. But at that time the colonies were too poor to sustain a professional army. In addition, the colonial people still had a clear memory of Cromwell s military autocratic rule, so they were disgusted with the standing army. All 13 colonies established militia systems. The militia was organized into two segments:the ordinary militia and the volunteers. The former was founded on the principle of compulsory military service, while the latter was also founded according to their own will ings.Generally, the volunteers were first enlisted in case of war.In many wars before the Civil War(including the Civil War), the United States mainly depended on the recruitment of the volunteers.During the War for Independence, a regular army--the ContinentalArmy was formed mainly by enlisting the volunteers. But it was not a real regular army until Washington s arduous but remarkable reform. Just as Washington had defined them as "a mixed multitude of people" .The Continental Army only served for one year, the soldiers left as soon astheir service time were expired. No matter what the emergency was, Washington had to dismiss one force on the one hand, and recruit another one on the other hand. It led the revolution into a dilemma more than one time. However, the way of short-service mobilization taken by theContinental Congress was not because of foolishness but prudence----theprudence to maintain a professional force. Although the Continental Congress spared no efforts to recruit for the Continental Army, it was never kept at full strength. At that time Washington made such a conclusionrthe volunteers were not reliable and only the compulsory military service was indispensable to ensure the manpower resources. But undoubtedly, both the volunteers and the ordinary militia made an indelible contribution to the victory of the War for Independence.In the early period of the United States, the American Constitution absorbed the cream of Washington, Hamilton and Jefferson's military thoughts. It also overwhelmed the malpractice of the Articles of Confederation. The two-grade armed forces system was built legally, in which the regular army is the backbone and the militia is the foundation. By 1812,the United States had built an "expansible" regular army on a considerably large scale. In the War of 1812, the way of the mobilization of manpower was still the voluntary enlistment,and the dilemma it confronted was the same as in the War for Independence. During the war, Scott's reorganization of the regular army upgraded its status.The adjustment of the mobilization policy of manpower during 1815 -1860 caused the imbalance of the two-grade armed forces system. That is, the regrlar army went up, the militia went down. Especially in the War of Mexico, the idea that the civil army was greatly helpful began to fade, which also prepared for the coming into being of the conscription system. The Civil War was a large total one, broad in scale, so it needed to mobilize all the manpowers in the country. It was not enough to only rely on the volunteers. The unveiling of the conscription systemestablished the principles of equality and coercion, and ensured the service resources fundamentally. It was a revolution in the mobilization of manpower in American history, which exerted a far-reaching influence on the later mobilization of manpower, even on the American history.