The seed that later grew into this book was planted in 1969, when I read Jim Forest’s essay, In Time of War.1 I was active in the Vietnam-era anti-draft movement, and I was very intrigued by one of Jim’s main points: that the then-current opposition to conscription had venerable antecedents in American history. Over the decades, in fits and starts, I did some research on the subject when time permitted. When I retired from the practice of law in June 2020, I turned full time to researching the topic and writing this book. The further I got into the research materials, the more astonished I became that no one had previously written a volume that dealt with conscription—and opposition to it—over the entire sweep of US history. Toward the end of his life, Jim knew I was working on this book; unfortunately, he died on January 13, 2022. I am grateful to Jim for having planted the seed.
I am deeply grateful to Dr. Scott Bennett, one of the co-editors of Brill’s new series, Studies in Peace History, for correcting out-and-out errors in the manuscript; for editing advice and suggestions; and, above all, for extensive mentorship. I have no formal training in history, and this volume owes much to Scott’s mentorship. His advice was always excellent (even when I was unhappy to receive it).
I am grateful to Professor Laura Weinrib of Harvard Law School (for providing a copy of Walter Nelles’s amicus curiæ brief in the World War I Arver case); Steve Suffett (for providing FBI documents he had previously obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request); Duane Stolzfus of Goshen College (for sharing with me some of his previously published work); Olivia Olafsson (for excellent research assistance); Polly Kummel (for wise and sensitive copyediting and for her labors conforming my anarchic footnotes to the required format); Frank Peachey and Fern Habecker of the Mennonite Central Committee (for generous assistance in navigating the MCC archive in Akron, Pennsylvania); to the staff of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, especially former Interim Director Anne Yoder, Director Rachel Mattson, and Archivist Vicki Russo (for guidance in navigating the SCPC); Professor Robert Griswold and librarian Laurie Scrivener of University of Oklahoma (for finding and providing a 1932 master’s thesis on the Green Corn Rebellion discussed in Chapter 4); and my son-in-law, historian David Mislin (for general advice throughout).
I am especially grateful to my wife, Anita Kestin, who read the manuscript, made helpful suggestions, and was always supportive. This volume is for her.
James M. Forest, “In Time of War,” in Daniel Berrigan, et al., Delivered into Resistance (New Haven, CT: Advocate Press, 1969), 1–10.