The Selective Service Act of 1917 or Selective Draft Act (Pub.L. 65–12, 40 Stat. 76, enacted May 18, 1917) authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription.
During the earliest days of the American Revolution, General Washington believed that "c. soldiers’ short enlistment periods doomed colonial chances of victory", since he knew that the prospects of the US winning an early victory were slim.
