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128-545: Impressment , colloquially " the press " or the " press gang ", nowadays referred as the busification , is a type of conscription of men into a military force, especially a naval force, via intimidation and physical coercion, conducted by an organized group (hence "gang"). European navies of several nations used impressment by various means. The large size of the British Royal Navy in the Age of Sail meant impressment

256-565: A men's rights group , sued the US Selective Service System in 2019, leading to it being declared unconstitutional by a US Federal Judge. The federal district judge's opinion was unanimously overturned on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit . In September 2021, the House of Representatives passed the annual Defense Authorization Act, which included an amendment that states that "all Americans between

384-549: A British subject as still "British"; as a result, the Royal Navy impressed over 9,000 sailors who claimed to be American citizens. During the wars with France (1793 to 1815), the Royal Navy aggressively reclaimed British deserters on board ships of other nations, both by halting and searching merchant ships, and, in many cases, by searching American port cities. Although these impressments violated American law, Jefferson ignored them so as to remain on good terms with Britain as he

512-511: A bounty upon joining, unlike pressed men. Seamen were not covered by Magna Carta and "failure to allow oneself to be pressed" was punishable by hanging, although the punishment became less severe over time. In Elizabethan times a statute regulated impressment as a form of recruitment, and with the introduction of the Vagabonds Act in 1597, men of disrepute ( vagrants ) found themselves drafted into service. In 1703, an act passed limiting

640-449: A corporation fails to declare the preferred dividend, those dividends are said to be in arrears. The dividends in arrears must be disclosed in the notes (footnotes) to the financial statements. (Cumulative preferred stock requires that any past, omitted dividends must be paid to the preferred stockholders before the common stockholders will be paid any dividend.) The word arrears means "end of period" when referring to annuities (an annuity

768-577: A corps of 150,000 black slaves, called his Black Guard . He used them to coerce the country into submission. Modern conscription, the massed military enrollment of national citizens ( levée en masse ), was devised during the French Revolution , to enable the Republic to defend itself from the attacks of European monarchies. Deputy Jean-Baptiste Jourdan gave its name to the 5 September 1798 Act, whose first article stated: "Any Frenchman

896-546: A draft in order to reinforce social equality, create social consciousness, break down class divisions and allow young adults to immerse themselves in public enterprise. This justification forms the basis of Israel's People's Army Model . Charles Rangel called for the reinstatement of the draft during the Iraq War not because he seriously expected it to be adopted but to stress how the socioeconomic restratification meant that very few children of upper-class Americans served in

1024-418: A gender-neutral model. Israel has universal female conscription, although it is possible to avoid service by claiming a religious exemption and over a third of Israeli women do so. Finland introduced voluntary female conscription in 1995, giving women between the ages of 18 and 29 an option to complete their military service alongside men. Sudanese law allows for conscription of women, but this

1152-512: A merchantman fired on a cruiser that was attempting to impress its crew; threats of similar violence to avoid sailors being pressed were supposedly not uncommon, especially with the East India ships whose crews had been away from their families and England for a considerable time. In times of an extreme shortage of men, the Navy would "embargo" the coast for a short time; merchantmen had to supply

1280-456: A national army or fyrd is a strange delusion dreamt up by antiquarians in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries to justify universal military conscription. In feudal Japan the shogun decree of 1393 exempted money lenders from religious or military levies, in return for a yearly tax. The Ōnin War weakened the shogun and levies were imposed again on money lenders. This overlordism

1408-507: A portion of their crew in exchange for permission to sail. Many merchant ships had hiding places constructed where their best crew could hide when approached by a Naval vessel. The owners of British whalers , because of the Press, often appointed a master to them whilst the vessels were in port in order to protect the whalers' crews. Otherwise the Press could take the men for naval service. The owners would then appoint an actual master to replace

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1536-471: A select class of warriors or mercenaries . Jean Jacques Rousseau argued vehemently against professional armies since he believed that it was the right and privilege of every citizen to participate to the defense of the whole society and that it was a mark of moral decline to leave the business to professionals. He based his belief upon the development of the Roman Republic , which came to an end at

1664-589: A way around this policy by "landing" cargoes from Europe in the United States and issuing certificates that duty had been paid. The ship would then sail, with the cargo never having been offloaded or duty actually paid, as now bona fide commerce between neutral America and the West Indies. The British became aware of the practice during the court case involving the seizure of the Essex . The court ruled that

1792-444: Is a legend; press officers were subject to fines for using trickery and a volunteer had a "cooling-off" period in which to change his mind. The great majority of men pressed were taken from merchant ships at sea, especially those homeward bound for Britain. This was legal as long as the Navy replaced the man they took, and many Naval captains would take the best seamen, replacing them with malcontents and landsmen from their own ship. It

1920-513: Is a soldier and owes himself to the defense of the nation." It enabled the creation of the Grande Armée , what Napoleon Bonaparte called "the nation in arms", which overwhelmed European professional armies that often numbered only into the low tens of thousands. More than 2.6 million men were inducted into the French military in this way between the years 1800 and 1813. The defeat of

2048-459: Is controversial for a range of reasons, including conscientious objection to military engagements on religious or philosophical grounds; political objection, for example to service for a disliked government or unpopular war; sexism , in that historically men have been subject to the draft in the most cases; and ideological objection, for example, to a perceived violation of individual rights. Those conscripted may evade service , sometimes by leaving

2176-481: Is likely these were pressed men who became "volunteers" to get the sign-up bonus, two months' wages in advance and a higher wage. It is known that large numbers did this. Volunteering also protected the sailor from creditors, as the law forbade collecting debts accrued before enlistment. A disadvantage was that volunteers who deserted were liable to execution if captured, whereas pressed men were simply returned to service. Other records confirm similar percentages throughout

2304-476: Is not implemented in practice. In the United Kingdom during World War II , beginning in 1941, women were brought into the scope of conscription but, as all women with dependent children were exempt and many women were informally left in occupations such as nursing or teaching, the number conscripted was relatively few. Most women who were conscripted were sent to the factories, although some were part of

2432-401: Is series of equal amounts occurring at equal time intervals, such as £1,000 per month for 20 years). If the recurring amount comes at the end of each period, the annuity is described as an annuity in arrears or as an ordinary annuity. A loan repayment schedule is usually an annuity in arrears. For example, you borrow £10,000 on September 30 and your first monthly payment will be due on October 31,

2560-411: Is usually used in relation with periodically-recurring payments such as rent , bills , royalties (or other contractual payments), and child support . Payment in arrear is a payment made after a service has been provided, as distinct from in advance, which are payments made at the start of a period. For instance, rent is usually paid in advance, but mortgages in arrear (the interest for

2688-676: The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), Women's Land Army , and other women's services. None were assigned to combat roles unless they volunteered. In contemporary United Kingdom, in July 2016, all exclusions on women serving in Ground Close Combat (GCC) roles were lifted. In the Soviet Union , there was never conscription of women for the armed forces , but the severe disruption of normal life and

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2816-794: The Abbasid caliphs in 9th-century Baghdad . Over time they became a powerful military caste . On more than one occasion, they seized power, for example, ruling Egypt from 1250 to 1517. From 1250 Egypt had been ruled by the Bahri dynasty of Kipchak origin. Slaves from the Caucasus served in the army and formed an elite corps of troops. They eventually revolted in Egypt to form the Burgi dynasty . The Mamluks' excellent fighting abilities, massed Islamic armies, and overwhelming numbers succeeded in overcoming

2944-457: The Court of King's Bench . He went on to lobby for changes in law and practice, publishing Letters on the evils of impressment: with the outline of a plan for doing them away, on which depend the wealth, prosperity, and consequence of Great Britain in 1816. Patrolling in or near sea ports, the press gang would try to find men aged between 15 and 55 with seafaring or river-boat experience, but this

3072-563: The Easton Massacre in 1803 (see caption at right), resulted in a press gang firing on a crowd, killing four people in the village of Easton on the Isle of Portland, where they were trying to impress the quarrymen. In 1808, Thomas Urquhart was saved from a press gang of three or four men when a London passersby intervened. Urquhart complained to local officials, identified at least one of the men involved and successfully sued for damages in

3200-642: The English Civil War was largely manned by impressment. After the restoration of the monarchy , impressment into the army was discontinued. During the American Revolutionary War, after the losses at the Battle of Saratoga and the impending hostilities with France, the existing voluntary enlistment measures were judged to be insufficient. Between 1775 and 1781, the regular army increased from 48,000 to 110,000. Two acts were passed,

3328-515: The English Civil War ; the United Kingdom abolished conscription in 1960. Around the reign of Hammurabi (1791–1750 BC ), the Babylonian Empire used a system of conscription called Ilkum . Under that system those eligible were required to serve in the royal army in time of war. During times of peace they were instead required to provide labour for other activities of the state. In return for this service, people subject to it gained

3456-639: The Judicial Yuan of the Republic of China in its Interpretation 490 considered that the physical differences between males and females and the derived role differentiation in their respective social functions and lives would not make drafting only males a violation of the Constitution of the Republic of China . Though women are not conscripted in Taiwan, transsexual persons are exempt. In 2018,

3584-746: The Napoleonic Wars on. The impressment of seamen from American ships caused serious tensions between Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War . One of the 27 colonial grievances enumerated in the Declaration of Independence directly highlights the practice. It was again a cause of tension leading up to the War of 1812 . After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Britain formally ended

3712-645: The Navigation Acts , to make experienced English seamen more available to serve on ships of war. In 1740, impressment was limited to men between 18 and 45, and it also exempted foreigners. As part of a wider effort to build colonial capability and harass its enemies, Parliament passed the Trade to America Act 1707 ( 6 Ann. c. 64). Section 9 mandated that mariners serving on board privateers and trading ships in any part of America, and those on shore, are not liable for impressment. Lingering questions remained whether

3840-593: The Netherlands started including women in its draft registration system, although conscription is not currently enforced for either sex. France and Portugal , where conscription was abolished, extended their symbolic, mandatory day of information on the armed forces for young people - called Defence and Citizenship Day in France and Day of National Defence in Portugal – to women in 1997 and 2008, respectively; at

3968-900: The Nurse Corps in preparation for a planned invasion of Japan . In 1981 in the United States , several men filed lawsuit in the case Rostker v. Goldberg , alleging that the Selective Service Act of 1948 violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment by requiring that only men register with the Selective Service System (SSS). The Supreme Court eventually upheld the Act, stating that "the argument for registering women

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4096-666: The Prussian Army in particular shocked the Prussian establishment, which had believed it was invincible after the victories of Frederick the Great . The Prussians were used to relying on superior organization and tactical factors such as order of battle to focus superior troops against inferior ones. Given approximately equivalent forces, as was generally the case with professional armies, these factors showed considerable importance. However, they became considerably less important when

4224-552: The Recruiting Act 1778 and the Recruiting Act 1779 , for the impression of individuals into the British Army. The chief advantages of these acts was in the number of volunteers brought in under the apprehension of impressment. To avoid impressment, some recruits incapacitated themselves by cutting off the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, making it impossible to use a musket or sword . The Recruiting Act of 1779

4352-847: The 1778 Act applied only to Scotland and the area around London, excluding Wales and the rest of England, to avoid interfering with harvesting. The 1779 Act applied to all of Great Britain, but was initially suspended everywhere except the area around London, and actually applied to all of Great Britain for only six months, until the 1779 act was repealed in May 1780, and army impressment ceased in Britain. Unlike naval impressment, army impressment applied only to "able-bodied idle, and disorderly Persons, who could not, upon Examination, prove themselves to exercise and industriously follow some lawful Trade or Employment, or to have some Substance sufficient for their Support and Maintenance", as well as smugglers, according to

4480-500: The 1778 law, but excluding from that any men who were voters, or harvest workers. The 1779 law extended impressment also to "incorrigible rogues" who had abandoned their families, and left them as expenses on the parish. Impressed apprentices were released under appeal from their masters, and impressed foreigners were released when requested by their countries' embassies. Literature Poetry Caricature Music Cinema Informational notes Conscription Conscription

4608-500: The 18th century. Average annual recruitment 1736–1783 All three groups also suffered high levels of desertion. In the 18th century, British desertion rates on naval ships averaged 25% annually, with slight difference between volunteers and pressed men. The rate of desertion started high, then fell heavily after a few months on board a ship, and generally became negligible after a year—because Navy pay ran months or years in arrears , desertion might mean not only abandoning companions in

4736-644: The 820s and 830s. The Turkic troops soon came to dominate the government , establishing a pattern throughout the Islamic world of a ruling military class, often separated by ethnicity, culture and even religion by the mass of the population, a paradigm that found its apogee in the Mamluks of Egypt and the Janissary corps of the Ottoman Empire , institutions that survived until the early 19th century. In

4864-661: The Admiralty would order a "hot press", which meant that no-one remained exempt. The Royal Navy also impressed seamen from inbound British merchant ships at sea, though this was done by individual warships, rather than by the Impress Service. Impressment, particularly press gangs , became consistently unpopular with the British public (as well as in the American colonies), and local officials often acted against them, to

4992-667: The American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress authorized construction of thirteen frigates, including USS  Virginia in 1775. The senior captain of the Continental Navy, James Nicholson , was appointed to command Virginia . When it was fitted out in 1777, Nicholson received orders to sail to Martinique . Many of Nicholson's crew had deserted to sign on as privateers, for higher pay at less risk. Therefore, Nicholson impressed about thirty citizens of Baltimore , an act expressly forbidden by Maryland law. Maryland governor Thomas Johnson demanded immediate release of

5120-802: The Christian Crusader fortresses in the Holy Land. The Mamluks were the most successful defence against the Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia and Iraq from entering Egypt. On the western coast of Africa, Berber Muslims captured non-Muslims to put to work as laborers. They generally converted the younger people to Islam and many became quite assimilated. In Morocco, the Berber looked south rather than north. The Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail , called "the Bloodthirsty" (1672–1727), employed

5248-773: The Janissaries in origin and means of development were the Mamluks of Egypt in the Middle Ages . The Mamluks were usually captive non-Muslim Iranian and Turkic children who had been kidnapped or bought as slaves from the Barbary coasts. The Egyptians assimilated and trained the boys and young men to become Islamic soldiers who served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle Ages . The first mamluks served

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5376-659: The Kapikulu system willingly, as they saw this as a potentially invaluable career opportunity for their children. Eventually the Sultan turned to foreign volunteers from the warrior clans of Circassians in southern Russia to fill his Janissary armies. As a whole the system began to break down, the loyalty of the Jannissaries became increasingly suspect. Mahmud II forcibly disbanded the Janissary corps in 1826. Similar to

5504-672: The Navigation Act 1703 ( 2 & 3 Ann. c. 6) was passed "for the Encrease of Seamen and better Encouragement of Navigation, and the Protection of the Coal Trade". This act gave parish authorities the power to indenture and apprentice boys to the sea, from as young as 10, until age 21; it also reaffirmed that rogues and vagabonds were subject to be pressed into the navy. The act establishes administration and regulations for

5632-666: The Navy had to quickly recruit an extra 20,000 men in the early 18th century, and 40,000 men in the late 18th century. Privateers , the Royal Navy, and the Merchant Navy all competed for a small pool of ordinary and able seamen in wartime, and all three groups were usually short-handed. The recruitment figures presented to Parliament for the years 1755–1757 list 70,566 men, of whom 33,243 were volunteers (47%), 16,953 pressed men (24%), while another 20,370 were listed as volunteers separately (29%). Although there are no records that explain why volunteers were separated into two groups, it

5760-541: The Prussian armies faced Napoleon's forces that outnumbered their own in some cases by more than ten to one. Scharnhorst advocated adopting the levée en masse , the military conscription used by France. The Krümpersystem was the beginning of short-term compulsory service in Prussia, as opposed to the long-term conscription previously used. In the Russian Empire , the military service time "owed" by serfs

5888-404: The Royal Navy a sufficient number of volunteer recruits to meet its manpower needs. Throughout the remainder of the 19th century changes in manpower needs and improved conditions of service permitted the Royal Navy to rely on voluntary enlistment to meet its requirements, augmented by the recall of reservists when necessary. This continued to be the case until World War I, when organised conscription

6016-489: The Royal Navy was additionally known to pay wages up to two years in arrears. The Navy always withheld six months' pay as a standard policy, in order to discourage desertion. Naval wages had been set in 1653, and were not increased until April 1797 after sailors on 80 ships of the Channel Fleet based at Spithead mutinied . Despite this, there were still many volunteers for naval service. The work for individual sailors

6144-601: The Sugar Trade Act 1746 ( 19 Geo. 2 . c. 30) stating that impressment was forbidden in the West Indies, but it added certain exceptions and made no specific mention of America. This would lead to the Knowles Riot in Boston the following year, and continuing colonial questions, particularly in heavily maritime New England . The last law was passed in 1835, in which the power to impress was reaffirmed. This limited

6272-627: The Sultan's Kapıkulu forces increased to about 100,000. In later years, Sultans turned to the Barbary Pirates to supply their Jannissaries corps. Their attacks on ships off the coast of Africa or in the Mediterranean, and subsequent capture of able-bodied men for ransom or sale provided some captives for the Sultan's system. Starting in the 17th century, Christian families living under the Ottoman rule began to submit their sons into

6400-432: The US, men who do not register with the Selective Service cannot apply for citizenship, receive federal financial aid, grants or loans, be employed by the federal government, be admitted to public colleges or universities, or, in some states, obtain a driver's license. Many American libertarians oppose conscription and call for the abolition of the Selective Service System , arguing that impressment of individuals into

6528-403: The United States and Jefferson later wrote: "The affair of the Chesapeake put war into my hand, I had only to open it and let havoc loose". He ordered the state governors to ready their militias, but the Embargo Act of 1807 that he eventually passed only ordered all British armed vessels out of American waters and forbade all contact with them if they remained. As a cause of the War of 1812 ,

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6656-441: The United States, every male resident is required by law to register with the Selective Service System within 30 days following his 18th birthday and be available for a draft; this is often accomplished automatically by a motor vehicle department during licensing or by voter registration. According to Milton Friedman the cost of conscription can be related to the parable of the broken window in anti-draft arguments. The cost of

6784-428: The act, including youth who volunteer for the indenture and certain seamen engaged in the coal trade supplying cities, are exempt from impressment for three years. This act was followed by the Recruiting Act 1703 ( 2 & 3 Ann. c. 13), which allows impressing able-bodied men into the army and navy who did not have visible means of subsistence; also as a wartime measure the act relaxes English crewing requirements under

6912-404: The ages of 18 and 25 must register for selective service." This amendment omitted the word "male", which would have extended a potential draft to women; however, the amendment was removed before the National Defense Authorization Act was passed. Feminists have argued, first, that military conscription is sexist because wars serve the interests of what they view as the patriarchy ; second, that

7040-411: The ages of 18 and 55 years". Non- seamen were sometimes impressed as well, though rarely. In addition to the Royal Navy's use of impressment, the British Army also experimented with impressment from 1778 to 1780. Impressment was strongly criticised by those who believed it to be contrary to the British constitution . Though the public opposed conscription in general, impressment was repeatedly upheld by

7168-480: The all-volunteer American armed forces. It is estimated by the British military that in a professional military, a company deployed for active duty in peacekeeping corresponds to three inactive companies at home. Salaries for each are paid from the military budget. In contrast, volunteers from a trained reserve are in their civilian jobs when they are not deployed. Under the total defense doctrine, conscription paired with periodic refresher training ensures that

7296-442: The allies restored the Bourbon kings to the throne, and France was no longer an enemy of Great Britain. The naval war was over and Britain could now sharply reduce its Royal Navy. It had no need to impress sailors, and never again used that means of forced recruitment, although it did not officially renounce the practice. By the time of Britain's next major war, against Russia in 1853 , a new system of fixed-term engagements had given

7424-401: The armed forces amounts to involuntary servitude . For example, Ron Paul , a former U.S. Libertarian Party presidential nominee, has said that conscription "is wrongly associated with patriotism , when it really represents slavery and involuntary servitude". The philosopher Ayn Rand opposed conscription, opining that "of all the statist violations of individual rights in a mixed economy,

7552-456: The basis that it violates gender equality , and some countries, especially in Europe , have extended conscription obligations to women. In 2006, eight countries ( China , Eritrea , Israel , Libya , Malaysia , North Korea , Peru , and Taiwan ) conscripted women into military service. Norway introduced female conscription in 2015, making it the first NATO member to have a legally compulsory national service for both men and women, and

7680-473: The cargo of the Essex had never been intended for American markets, so the voyage had not been broken and could thus be considered continuous. The result was the blockade of New York Harbor by two British frigates, the Cambrian and the Leander , which provoked public demonstrations. For the next year scores of American ships found violating the Rule of 1756 were condemned in admiralty courts and their crews were impressed with increasing frequency until, in

7808-450: The civilian workforce. Every soldier conscripted in the army is taken away from his civilian work, and away from contributing to the economy which funds the military. This may be less a problem in an agrarian or pre-industrialized state where the level of education is generally low, and where a worker is easily replaced by another. However, this is potentially more costly in a post-industrial society where educational levels are high and where

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7936-507: The commander shouted a warning to which Barron replied "I don't hear what you say". Leopard then fired two shots across the bow and almost immediately poured a broadside into Chesapeake . The Chesapeake did not return fire but Leopard fired another two broadsides; three sailors onboard Chesapeake were killed and eighteen were wounded. The boarding party from Leopard arrested Martin, Strachan, Ware and Ratford. The Chesapeake – Leopard affair provoked an outcry for war from all parts of

8064-488: The constable and the marshals). Men were summoned by the bailiff (or the sénéchal in the south). Bailiffs were military and political administrators installed by the King to steward and govern a specific area of a province following the king's commands and orders. The men summoned in this way were then summoned by the lieutenant who was the King's representative and military governor over an entire province comprising many bailiwicks , seneschalties and castellanies. All men from

8192-887: The country, and seeking asylum in another country. Some selection systems accommodate these attitudes by providing alternative service outside combat -operations roles or even outside the military, such as siviilipalvelus (alternative civil service) in Finland and Zivildienst (compulsory community service) in Austria and Switzerland. Several countries conscript male soldiers not only for armed forces, but also for paramilitary agencies, which are dedicated to police -like domestic-only service like internal troops , border guards or non-combat rescue duties like civil defence . As of 2023, many states no longer conscript their citizens, relying instead upon professional militaries with volunteers . The ability to rely on such an arrangement, however, presupposes some degree of predictability with regard to both war-fighting requirements and

8320-459: The courts, as it was deemed vital to the strength of the navy and, by extension, to the survival of the British realm and influence. Impressment was essentially a Royal Navy practice, reflecting the sheer size of the British fleet and its substantial manpower demands. While other European navies applied forced recruitment in times of war, this was generally done as an extension of the practice of formal conscription applied by most European armies from

8448-614: The early 19th century. In response, sailors and residents fought back with a range of tactics. They sometimes reacted violently. The riots in St John's in 1794 and Halifax in 1805 led to a prohibition on impressment on shore for much of the Napoleonic Wars. The protest came from a wide swath of the urban community, including elites, rather than just sailors, and had a lasting negative impact on civil–military relations in what became Canada. The local communities did not encourage their young men to volunteer for Royal Navy service. The American Continental Navy impressed men into its service during

8576-420: The early summer of 1807, when three deserters from the British frigate HMS  Melampus lying in Chesapeake Bay enlisted on the American frigate USS  Chesapeake . After searching Chesapeake , the deserters, David Martin, John Strachan, and William Ware, were found to be native-born Americans who had been wrongly impressed. The search also established that another crew member, listed as Jenkin Ratford,

8704-511: The entire able-bodied population of a country can be mobilized to defend against invasion or assist civil authorities during emergencies. For this reason, some European countries have reintroduced or debated reintroducing conscription during the onset of the Second Cold War . Military Keynesians often argue for conscription as a job guarantee . For example, it was more financially beneficial for less-educated young Portuguese men born in 1967 to participate in conscription than to participate in

8832-559: The execution of King Charles I , the Rump Parliament passed several acts in 1649 and 1650 concerning the encouragement of officers, mariners and for the impressment of seamen (e.g. 22 February 1648/9 ). In 1695, an Act was passed to build a permanent register of 30,000 men for ready call-up by the navy, "without having recourse to the barbarous and unconstitutional practice of pressing". The act also established basic rules and benefits for all types of seamen, including access to Greenwich Hospital . With wars raging in Europe and in America

8960-413: The extra personnel for its planned invasion of Japan. However, the Japanese surrendered and the idea was abandoned. During the Great Patriotic War , the Red Army conscripted nearly 30 million men. Men's rights activists , feminists , and opponents of discrimination against men have criticized military conscription, or compulsory military service, as sexist . The National Coalition for Men,

9088-580: The federal constitution. There is one documented case of a British seaman impressed by the US Navy in 1810. In 1795, the Jay Treaty went into effect, addressing many issues left unresolved after the American Revolution , and averting a renewed conflict. However, the treaty's neglect to address British impressment of sailors from American ships and ports became a major cause of complaint among those who disapproved of it. While non-British subjects were not impressed, at this point Britain did not recognize naturalised American citizenship and treated anyone born

9216-571: The first country in the world to draft women on the same formal terms as men. In practice only motivated volunteers are selected to join the army in Norway. Sweden introduced female conscription in 2010, but it was not activated until 2017. This made Sweden the second nation in Europe to draft women, and the second in the world (after Norway) to draft women on the same formal terms as men. Denmark will extend conscription to women from 2027, also on

9344-651: The high proportion of civilians affected by World War II after the German invasion attracted many volunteers for " The Great Patriotic War ". Medical doctors of both sexes could and would be conscripted (as officers). Also, the Soviet university education system required Department of Chemistry students of both sexes to complete an ROTC course in NBC defense , and such female reservist officers could be conscripted in times of war. The United States came close to drafting women into

9472-458: The highly competitive job market with men of the same age who continued to higher education. Throughout history, women have only been conscripted to join armed forces in a few countries, in contrast to the universal practice of conscription from among the male population. The traditional view has been that military service is a test of manhood and a rite of passage from boyhood into manhood. In recent years, this position has been challenged on

9600-523: The impressed men and Congress convinced Nicholson to release them all. Nicholson avoided impressment on land and instead stopped two American merchant ships at sea in 1780, to impress men from their crews. The individual states did not deny the concept of impressment for their own navies, but were reluctant to grant the right to the Continental Congress. The concept of drafting men into armed service remained contentious, even after adoption of

9728-490: The impressment and ship seizures caused serious diplomatic tension, and helped to turn American public opinion against Britain. Impressment was widely perceived as humiliating and dishonoring the U.S. because it was unable to protect its ships and sailors. Britain fought the war against Napoleon on the high seas, enlarging its Royal Navy from 135 ships in 1793 to 584 in 1812, and expanding personnel from 36,000 seamen in 1793 to 114,000 in 1812. In spring 1814 Napoleon surrendered,

9856-459: The impressment of boys under 18 years of age to those who were not apprenticed. A further act in 1740 raised the maximum age to 55. Although no foreigner could normally be pressed, they lost their protection if they married a British woman or had worked on a British merchant ship for two years. Some governments, including Britain, issued "protections" against impressment that protected men had to carry on their person at all times, but in times of crisis

9984-507: The king or the local lord, bringing along the weapons and armor according to their wealth. These levies fought as footmen, sergeants, and men at arms under local superiors appointed by the king or the local lord such as the arrière-ban in France. Arrière-ban denoted a general levy, where all able-bodied males age 15 to 60 living in the Kingdom of France were summoned to go to war by the King (or

10112-402: The land-holding aristocracy of the time and were required to serve with their own armour and weapons for a certain number of days each year. The historian David Sturdy has cautioned about regarding the fyrd as a precursor to a modern national army composed of all ranks of society, describing it as a "ridiculous fantasy": The persistent old belief that peasants and small farmers gathered to form

10240-443: The latter were employed inland away from coastal ports; notably Portsmouth, Plymouth, Harwich and Yarmouth. However, convicted petty criminals were often given the option of volunteering for naval service as unskilled "quota men" by parish constables and inland courts (see below). There were occasions when the local populace would band together to oppose the activities of the press where these exceeded legal bounds. One such incident,

10368-435: The law applied only to the navy, or to civil authorities as well, and whether it applied only to the current war or to all future wars. Two attorneys-general of Great Britain, one in 1716, and another in 1740, issued opinions that the 1707 Act was no longer in effect, but many American colonists disagreed. Despite doubts over the continuing legality of impressment in continental waters, but for similar reasons, Parliament passed

10496-465: The length of service of a pressed man to five years, and added the provision that a man could not be pressed twice. Although Britain abandoned the practice of impressment in 1815, impressment remained legal until the early 1900s, and the various laws authorising impressment have never been repealed. Starting in 1645, the New Model Army raised by Oliver Cromwell to overthrow Charles I during

10624-473: The middle of the 14th century, Ottoman Sultan Murad I developed personal troops to be loyal to him, with a slave army called the Kapıkulu . The new force was built by taking Christian children from newly conquered lands, especially from the far areas of his empire, in a system known as the devşirme (translated "gathering" or "converting"). The captive children were forced to convert to Islam . The Sultans had

10752-424: The military draft is the worst. It is an abrogation of rights. It negates man's fundamental right—the right to life—and establishes the fundamental principle of statism : that a man's life belongs to the state, and the state may claim it by compelling him to sacrifice it in battle." In 1917, a number of radicals and anarchists, including Emma Goldman , challenged the new draft law in federal court, arguing that it

10880-504: The military for six years. In the decades prior to World War I universal conscription along broadly Prussian lines became the norm for European armies, and those modeled on them. By 1914 the only substantial armies still completely dependent on voluntary enlistment were those of Britain and the United States. Some colonial powers such as France reserved their conscript armies for home service while maintaining professional units for overseas duties. The range of eligible ages for conscripting

11008-700: The military is a sexist institution and that conscripts are therefore indoctrinated into sexism; and third, that conscription of men normalizes violence by men as socially acceptable. Feminists have been organizers and participants in resistance to conscription in several countries. Conscription has also been criticized on the ground that, historically, only men have been subjected to conscription. Men who opt out or are deemed unfit for military service must often perform alternative service, such as Zivildienst in Austria , Germany and Switzerland , or pay extra taxes, whereas women do not have these obligations. In

11136-404: The most fit and capable subtract from the productivity of the economy; add to this the cost of training them, and in some countries paying them. Compared to these extensive costs, some would argue there is very little benefit; if there ever was a war then conscription and basic training could be completed quickly, and in any case there is little threat of a war in most countries with conscription. In

11264-409: The navy, hard though it was, as still preferable to their previous lives on shore, and to volunteer for further service when the opportunity came to leave the ship. For major voyages, shipowners and governments routinely estimated that 50% of the sailors would die due to scurvy . The main problem with naval recruitment was a shortage of qualified and experienced seamen during wartime; for example, when

11392-861: The option of completing their sentence or volunteering. Apart from the probably lower quality of recruits taken by this means, another downside of the Quota System was the frequent introduction of disease, especially typhus , to healthy ships. Ireland formed a separate but subordinate state, the Kingdom of Ireland , between 1534 and 1800. All of Ireland was united to Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland between 1801 and 1922. The Royal Navy recruited heavily in Ireland during these periods, including using impressment. For example, in 1734, impressment took place in Wicklow . Impressment

11520-483: The period is due at the end of the period). Employees' salaries are usually paid in arrear. Payment at the end of a period is referred to by the singular arrear, to distinguish from past due payments. For example, a housing tenant who is obliged to pay rent at the end of each month is said to pay rent in arrear, while a tenant who has not paid rental due for 30 days is said to be one month in arrears. Precise usage may differ slightly (e.g. "in arrear" or "in arrears" for

11648-466: The placeholder masters. In addition to impressment, Britain also used the Quota System (or The Quod ) from 1795 to 1815, whereby each county was required to supply a certain number of volunteers, based on its population and the number of its seaports. Unlike impressment, the Quota System often resulted in criminals serving on board ships as counties who failed to meet their quota offered prisoners

11776-616: The point of imprisoning officers from the Impress Service or opposing them by force of arms. At the time of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, over half the Royal Navy's 120,000 sailors were pressed men. The power of the Impressment Service to conscript was limited by law to seafarers, including merchant seamen , longshoremen , collier crews and fishermen. There is little basis to the widespread impression that civilians without any seafaring background were randomly seized from home, country lane or workplace by press gangs or that

11904-536: The practice; later conscription was not limited to the Royal Navy but covered all British armed forces. Working and living conditions for the average sailor in the Royal Navy in the 18th century were very harsh by modern standards. Naval pay was attractive in the 1750s, but towards the end of the century its value had been steadily eroded by rising prices. Sailors' pay on merchant ships was somewhat higher during peacetime, and could increase to double naval pay during wartime. Until 19th-century reforms improved conditions,

12032-487: The realm. The bulk of the Anglo-Saxon English army, called the fyrd , was composed of part-time English soldiers drawn from the freemen of each county. In the 690s laws of Ine of Wessex , three levels of fines are imposed on different social classes for neglecting military service. Some modern writers claim military service in Europe was restricted to the landowning minor nobility. These thegns were

12160-405: The reciprocal rights and duties of citizens. "It may not be doubted that the very conception of a just government in its duty to the citizen includes the reciprocal obligation of the citizen to render military service in case of need and the right to compel." It can be argued that in a cost-to-benefit ratio , conscription during peacetime is not worthwhile. Months or years of service performed by

12288-467: The richest noble to the poorest commoner were summoned under the arrière-ban and they were supposed to present themselves to the King or his officials. In medieval Scandinavia the leiðangr ( Old Norse ), leidang ( Norwegian ), leding , ( Danish ), ledung ( Swedish ), lichting ( Dutch ), expeditio ( Latin ) or sometimes leþing ( Old English ), was a levy of free farmers conscripted into coastal fleets for seasonal excursions and in defence of

12416-556: The right to hold land. It is possible that this right was not to hold land per se but specific land supplied by the state. Various forms of avoiding military service are recorded. While it was outlawed by the Code of Hammurabi , the hiring of substitutes appears to have been practiced both before and after the creation of the code. Later records show that Ilkum commitments could become regularly traded. In other places, people simply left their towns to avoid their Ilkum service. Another option

12544-461: The same situation) in different countries. In accounting, arrears is used in at least three different ways. When any shareholder does not pay his/her call money to company on his/her due date. At that time, company will deduct that calls in arrears from total called up capital for showing net paid up capital in balance sheet. The word arrears is used to mean "past due" when describing the past, omitted dividends on cumulative preferred stock . If

12672-815: The same time as the Roman Army changed from a conscript to a professional force. Similarly, Aristotle linked the division of armed service among the populace intimately with the political order of the state. Niccolò Machiavelli argued strongly for conscription in The Prince and The Art of War and saw the professional armies, made up of mercenary units, as the cause of the failure of societal unity in Italy. Other proponents, such as William James , consider both mandatory military and national service as ways of instilling maturity in young adults. Some proponents, such as Jonathan Alter and Mickey Kaus , support

12800-408: The same time, the military registry of both countries and obligation of military service in case of war was extended to women. Arrears In finance , arrears (or arrearage ) is a legal term for the part of a debt that is overdue after missing one or more required payments. The amount of the arrears is the amount accrued from the date on which the first missed payment was due. The term

12928-532: The scope of hostilities. Many states that have abolished conscription still, therefore, reserve the power to resume conscription during wartime or times of crisis. States involved in wars or interstate rivalries are most likely to implement conscription, and democracies are less likely than autocracies to implement conscription. With a few exceptions, such as Singapore and Egypt, former British colonies are less likely to have conscription, as they are influenced by British anti-conscription norms that can be traced back to

13056-493: The ship's company, but also the loss of a large amount of money already earned. If a naval ship had taken a prize , a deserting seaman would forfeit his share of the prize money. In a report on proposed changes to the RN written by Admiral Nelson in 1803, he noted that since 1793 more than 42,000 sailors had deserted. The Impress Service, colloquially called the "press-gang", was formed to force sailors to serve on naval vessels. There

13184-675: The situation had since changed with the 2013 and 2015 restriction removals. Miller's opinion was reversed by the Fifth Circuit , stating that only the Supreme Court could overturn the Supreme Court precedence from Rostker . The Supreme Court considered but declined to review the Fifth Circuit's ruling in June 2021. In an opinion authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor and joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh ,

13312-475: The spring of 1757 in New York City , when 3,000 Royal Navy sailors under the command of Sir Charles Hardy entered the city and scoured the taverns and other sailors' gathering places. "All kinds of tradesmen and Negroes" were hauled in, nearly eight hundred in all. Four hundred were retained in the service The Royal Navy extended the reach of its press gangs into coastal areas of British North America by

13440-476: The street would first be asked to volunteer for naval service. If the potential recruit refused he was often plied with alcohol or simply seized and taken. A commonly held belief is that a trick was used in taverns , surreptitiously dropping a King's shilling ("prest money") into a man's drink, as by "finding" the shilling in his possession he was deemed to have volunteered, and that this led to some tavern owners putting glass bottoms in their tankards. However, this

13568-616: The three justices agreed that the male-only draft was likely unconstitutional given the changes in the military's stance on the roles, but because Congress had been reviewing and evaluating legislation to eliminate its male-only draft requirement via the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (NCMNPS) since 2016, it would have been inappropriate for the Court to act at that time. On 1 October 1999, in Taiwan ,

13696-442: The work, military service, does not disappear even if no salary is paid. The work effort of the conscripts is effectively wasted, as an unwilling workforce is extremely inefficient. The impact is especially severe in wartime, when civilian professionals are forced to fight as amateur soldiers. Not only is the work effort of the conscripts wasted and productivity lost, but professionally skilled conscripts are also difficult to replace in

13824-414: The workforce is sophisticated and a replacement for a conscripted specialist is difficult to find. Even more dire economic consequences result if the professional conscripted as an amateur soldier is killed or maimed for life; his work effort and productivity are lost. Classical republicans promoted conscription as a tool for maintaining civilian control of the military , thereby preventing usurpation by

13952-706: The young boys trained over several years. Those who showed special promise in fighting skills were trained in advanced warrior skills, put into the sultan's personal service, and turned into the Janissaries , the elite branch of the Kapıkulu . A number of distinguished military commanders of the Ottomans, and most of the imperial administrators and upper-level officials of the Empire, such as Pargalı İbrahim Pasha and Sokollu Mehmet Paşa , were recruited in this way. By 1609,

14080-416: Was 25 years at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1834 it was decreased to 20 years. The recruits were to be not younger than 17 and not older than 35. In 1874 Russia introduced universal conscription in the modern pattern, an innovation only made possible by the abolition of serfdom in 1861. New military law decreed that all male Russian subjects, when they reached the age of 20, were eligible to serve in

14208-540: Was a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment 's prohibition against slavery and involuntary servitude. However, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the draft act in the case of Arver v. United States on 7 January 1918, on the ground that the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war and to raise and support armies. The Court also relied on the principle of

14336-490: Was actually a British deserter; however, he could not be found. Admiral Berkeley issued an order to all commanders in the North Atlantic Squadron to search Chesapeake if encountered on the high seas. Eight miles southeast of Cape Henry a boat from the British frigate HMS  Leopard intercepted her but Commodore James Barron declined to permit his crew to be mustered. Leopard began approaching and

14464-554: Was also common during the Napoleonic wars, although poverty in Ireland made sure that volunteers were usually available. The Royal Navy also used impressment extensively in British North America from during the 18th and 19th centuries. Navy press gangs sparked resistance, riots, and political turmoil in seaports such as Halifax , St John's , and Quebec City . One of the largest impressment operations occurred in

14592-553: Was also common for "trusted" volunteers to act as substitutes; they would then desert as soon as the merchant ship docked, and return to their Navy ship. Outbound merchant ships, officers and apprentices were exempt from impressment. When war broke out, the Navy would deploy frigates and vessels off the coast to intercept inbound merchantmen. Reportedly some merchant captains redirected their ships to Irish ports to offload favoured crewmen, before making final landfall in England. In 1740,

14720-479: Was arbitrary and unpredictable for commoners. While the money lenders were not poor, several overlords tapped them for income. Levies became necessary for the survival of the overlord, allowing the lord to impose taxes at will. These levies included tansen tax on agricultural land for ceremonial expenses. Y akubu takumai tax was raised on all land to rebuild the Ise Grand Shrine , and munabechisen tax

14848-642: Was based on considerations of equity, but Congress was entitled, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, to focus on the question of military need, rather than 'equity.'" In 2013, Judge Gray H. Miller of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that the Service's men-only requirement was unconstitutional, as while at the time Rostker was decided, women were banned from serving in combat,

14976-676: Was common during the Second World War: in Britain, it was commonly known as "call-up" and extended to age 51. Nazi Germany termed it Volkssturm ("People's Storm") and included boys as young as 16 and men as old as 60. During the Second World War, both Britain and the Soviet Union conscripted women. The United States was on the verge of drafting women into the Nurse Corps because it anticipated it would need

15104-544: Was expanded to meet national demand during the World Wars . In the United States, the Selective Service System drafted men for World War I initially in an age range from 21 to 30 but expanded its eligibility in 1918 to an age range of 18 to 45. In the case of a widespread mobilization of forces where service includes homefront defense, ages of conscripts may range much higher, with the oldest conscripts serving in roles requiring lesser mobility. Expanded-age conscription

15232-529: Was imposed on all houses . At the time, land in Kyoto was acquired by commoners through usury and in 1422 the shogun threatened to repossess the land of those commoners who failed to pay their levies. The system of military slaves was widely used in the Middle East , beginning with the creation of the corps of Turkic slave-soldiers ( ghulams or mamluks ) by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim in

15360-408: Was introduced in 1916 for all the military services. The first Act of Parliament legalising this practice was passed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth in 1563 and was known as "An Act touching political considerations for the maintenance of the navy". It was renewed many times until 1631. In the Vagabonds Act 1597 , several lists of persons were subject to impressment for service in the fleet. Following

15488-406: Was less than on merchant ships, since the naval crew size was determined by the number needed to man guns – around four times more than the number of crew needed to simply sail the ship. Furthermore, the food supplied by the Navy was plentiful, regular, and of good quality by the standards of the day. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was not at all unusual for impressed men to view life in

15616-487: Was most commonly associated with Great Britain and Ireland . It was used by the Royal Navy in wartime, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries as a means of crewing warships , although legal sanction for the practice can be traced back to the time of Edward I of England . The Royal Navy impressed many merchant sailors, as well as some sailors from other, mostly European, nations. People liable to impressment were "eligible men of seafaring habits between

15744-667: Was negotiating to obtain Florida from the Spanish. This changed in 1805 when the Royal Navy began seizing American merchantmen violating British law by trading with the West Indies , condemning the ships and their cargoes as prizes and impressing their crews. Under the Rule of 1756 , in times of war direct trade between a neutral state and a British colony was forbidden if such trade had not existed in time of peace. American merchants found

15872-433: Was no concept of "joining the navy" as a fixed career-path for non-officers at the time, since seamen remained attached to a ship only for the duration of its commission. They were encouraged to stay in the Navy after the commission but could leave to seek other employment when the ship was paid off. Impressment relied on the legal power of the King to call men to military service, as well as to recruit volunteers, who were paid

16000-501: Was not essential. Potential crewmen with no experience were called " landsmen ". From 1740, landsmen were legally exempt from impressment, but this was on occasion ignored in wartime unless the person seized was an apprentice or a " gentleman ". Two landsmen were considered by captains to be the equivalent of one able seaman. If a landsman was able to prove his status to the Admiralty he was usually released. Court records do, however, show fights breaking out as people attempted to avoid what

16128-475: Was perceived as wrongful impressment, and the London Times reported occasions when press gangs instituted a "hot press" (ignoring protections against impressment) in order to man the navy. Merchant seamen ashore from their ships (and usually conspicuous by their clothing, rolling stride, tattoos and generally weathered appearance) were however another matter. Anyone with seafaring experience encountered in

16256-421: Was repealed on 26 May 1780, and army impressment was permanently discontinued. During the experiment, the British government allowed army impressment under severely restricted circumstances — both acts emphasized volunteering over impressment, and offered strong incentives to volunteers as a " carrot and stick " tactic, to encourage the men to volunteer lest they be pressed instead. The impressment portion of

16384-540: Was to sell Ilkum lands and the commitments along with them. With the exception of a few exempted classes, this was forbidden by the Code of Hammurabi. Under the feudal laws on the European continent, landowners in the medieval period enforced a system whereby all peasants , freemen commoners and noblemen aged 15 to 60 living in the countryside or in urban centers, were summoned for military duty when required by either

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