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You and the Military
by Alan Shapiro
DBQ:
Should there be a draft?
To prepare students for the DBQ (document-based question) exercise, you might want to have students break into small groups.
Assign each group one of the quotes below on the pros and cons of required military service. Give the groups 15-20 minutes to discuss whether they agree or disagree with the quote and perhaps conduct a vote on whether a draft should be instituted. Ask a reporter from each group to summarize its findings for the class.
Then conduct a whole-class discussion, followed, perhaps, by a final class vote on whether or not to institute the draft.
Pros and Cons of a Military Draft
Read each paragraph, and then answer the question following it. After you have read all of the paragraphs, write an essay in response to the question at the bottom.
A. House Resolution 163 and Senate Bill 89: Universal Service Act of 2003
"To provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civil service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes.
óCo-Sponsored in the House of Representatives by 14 members and in the
Senate by 1 member
Question: According to HR 163, what would be the purpose of requiring all young men and women to perform military service?
B. "The most important reason to oppose HR 163 is that a draft violates the very principles of individual liberty upon which our nation was founded....Some say the 18-year-old draftee 'owes it' to his [or her, since HR 163 makes women eligible for the draft] country. Hogwash!....All drafts are unfair. All 18- and 19-year-olds are never drafted. By its very nature a draft must be discriminatory. All drafts hit the most vulnerable young people, as the elites learn quickly how to avoid the risks of combat....The draft encourages wars with neither purpose nor moral justification, wars that too often are not even declared by the Congress."
óRepresentative Ron Paul (Republican of Texas), 10/7/04
Question: What are two reasons for Representative Paul's opposition to HR 163?
C. "Bring back the draft. The Congress that voted overwhelmingly to allow the use of force in Iraq includes only one member who has a child in the enlisted ranks of the militaryójust a few more have children who are officers....A renewed draft will help bring a great appreciation of the consequences of decisions to go to war. Service in our nation's armed forces is no longer a common experience. A disproportionate number of the poor and members of minority groups make up the enlisted ranks of the military, while the most privileged Americans are underrepresented or absent."
óRepresentative Charles B. Rangel (Democrat of New York)
Question: Why does Representative Rangel think that a military draft would help Americans to understand better the consequences of the nation's going to war?
D. "There's not an American...that doesn't understand what we are engaged in today and what the prospects are for the future. If that's the case, why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?" This would force "our citizens to understand the intensity and depth of challenges we face....Those who are serving today and dying today are the middle class and lower middle class."
óSenator Chuck Hagel (Republican of Nebraska)
Question: What is one reason why Senator Hagel supports a draft?
E. Conscription "rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state. If we buy that assumption then it is for the stateónot for parents, the community, the religious institutions or teachersóto decide who shall have what values and who shall do what work, when, where and how in our society. That assumption isn't a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea."
óformer president Ronald Reagan
Question: How does Reagan connect conscription with Nazi philosophy?
F. "I can't imagine our country going back to a draft. We don't need it. We're able to attract and retain wonderful people the way we're doing it as long as we provide the appropriate incentives. And certainly this is country that's wealthy enough to do that."
óDonald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense in the current Bush administration
Question: What does Secretary Rumsfeld's reference to the wealth of the U.S. have to do with his opposition to a draft?
DBQ Question:
Controversy over required military service by all young men and women goes as far back as the Civil War when there were riots opposing the draft in New York City.
Using information from the documents and your knowledge of history, write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion in which you:
- compare and contrast different viewpoints on a draft
- discuss your own viewpoint and the reasons for it
This
lesson was written for TeachableMoment.Org, a project of Morningside
Center for Teaching Social Responsibility. We welcome
your comments. Please email them to: lmcclure@morningsidecenter.org.
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