Controversy over The Draft in World War 1
Although the riots similar to the ones in the Civil War did not reoccur, there were still a handful of protests that went on because of the draft in World War I. Men were still refusing to enlist and rebellion was regular. In the rural South, deserters and resisters would frequently escape to the hills. Many communities even sheltered them and viewed their standpoints on the draft as admirable. Nationwide, No-Conscription citizens’ groups kept multiplying. Organizations like this one sought to obtain Conscientious Objector status to prove their point that they were strongly opposed to war. They would often organize massive anti-war demonstrations (Tracey, 2006). What’s more, the Industrial Workers of the World, an international industrial union, lead strikes in war-related industries and encouraged men not to register (Reider, 1999).
One significant rebellion that occurred is known as the Oklahoma Green Corn Rebellion of 1917. Many farmers in Oklahoma opposed the “rich man’s war” and did not want to see their sons having to fight in it without any say so. Nor did the farmers want their sons to have to fight in a battle with Europeans who they had no former altercations with. As a result, they worked to form a group to fight the draft. Raiding parties would cut down telephone lines and burn railroad bridges so that military recruiters would stay clear of their homes (Sellars, 2007).