Editing Draft evasion (section)

====World War I====
The [[Selective Service Act of 1917]] was carefully drawn to remedy the defects in the Civil War system by allowing exemptions for dependency, essential occupations, and religious scruples and by prohibiting all forms of bounties, substitutions, or purchase of exemptions. In 1917 and 1918 some 24 million men were registered and nearly 3 million inducted into the military services, with little of the overt resistance that characterized the Civil War.<ref>Chambers, John Whiteclay II (1987). ''To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America.'' New York: Free Press. {{ISBN|978-0-02-905820-6}}.</ref>

[[File:Eugene Debs portrait.jpeg|left|thumb|280x280px|[[Eugene V. Debs]] spoke out against the draft during World War I.<ref name=Virden />]]

In the United States during [[World War I]], the word "[[slacker]]" was commonly used to describe someone who was not participating in the war effort, especially someone who avoided military service, an equivalent of the later term "draft dodger." Attempts to track down such evaders were called "slacker raids."<ref>Author unspecified (10 September 1918). "[https://www.nytimes.com/1918/09/10/archives/take-slackers-into-army-many-at-camp-dix-welcome-induction-into.html Take Slackers Into Army; Many at Camp Dix Welcome Induction Into Military Service]". ''The New York Times'', p.&nbsp;6. Retrieved 17 January 2018.</ref><ref>Capozzola, Christopher (2008). ''Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen''. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.&nbsp;43–53. {{ISBN|978-0-19-533549-1}}.</ref> Under the [[Espionage Act of 1917]], activists including [[Eugene V. Debs]] and [[Emma Goldman]] were arrested for speaking out against the draft.<ref name=Virden>Virden, Jenel (2008). ''America and the Wars of the Twentieth Century''. [[Palgrave Macmillan]], p.&nbsp;35. {{ISBN|978-0-333-72661-7}}.</ref>

Despite such circumstances, draft evasion was substantial. According to one scholar, nearly 11 percent of the draft-eligible population refused to register, or to report for induction;<ref name=Keene>Keene, Jennifer D. (2006). ''World War I''. [[Greenwood Publishing Group]], p.&nbsp;37. {{ISBN|978-0-313-33181-7}}/</ref> according to another, 12 percent of draftees either failed to report to their training camps or deserted from them.<ref name=Wittmann /> A significant amount of draft evasion took place in the South, in part because many impoverished Southerners lacked documentation<ref name=Keene /> and in part because many Southerners recalled the "horrible carnage" of the Civil War.<ref>Ross, William G. (2017). ''World War I and the American Constitution''. [[Cambridge University Press]], p.&nbsp;28. {{ISBN|978-1-107-09464-2}}.</ref> In 2017, historian [[Michael Kazin]] concluded that a greater percentage of American men evaded the draft during World War I than during the Vietnam War.<ref>[[Michael Kazin|Kazin, Michael]] (2017). ''War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914–1918''. [[Simon & Schuster]], p.&nbsp;209. {{ISBN|978-1-4767-0590-3}}.</ref>