Name: Norwood, Sheryl
E-mail: sheryl@norwoodpms.com
Topic: Draft Resistance During World War I in Arkansas
Grade: Ninth and Tenth Grades (Adaptable 7 12)
Time: One class period
Ark. Hist. Framework: 6.1.10, 1.1.14
Objective: The student will be able to identify various types of resistance
and personal, political, and social consequences to the resistance of the draft
in Arkansas during World War I.
Set: Review the fact that World War I was the “war to end all wars.” Note
that patriotism was a national phenomenon during this time period. Ask students
to tell you what they think might happen to individuals who refused to support
the war effort during that time? Pose the question: Did forty-five-year-old men
have to register for the draft?
Materials: Arkansas History Text, World Atlas from WWI period, Printable
example of WWI Selective Service Registration Card, Internet access would be a
plus.
Key Terms: Draft, Conscription, Selective Service, Registration,
“Slackers”, and Exemptions
Key Facts: WWI Selective Service Registration Cards were created
when men registered for the draft in 1917 and 1918 under the Selective Service
Law and Regulations.
· Three draft
registrations were held:
1. June 5, 1917
registered all men between 21 and 31 years of age
2. June 5, 1918
registered all men who had become 21 years of age
3. September 12, 1918 registered
all men between the ages of 18 and 45
More Facts:
All men had to register, even those who were blind.
Exemptions could be requested, but registration was a requirement not an
option.
Spring and summer of 1918 saw a nation-wide policy implemented to crack
down on “slackers” by locating, rounding up, and punishing draft
evaders.
In southern Polk County, near Mena, a group of draft resisters engaged in a
gunfight with Polk County Sheriff, H.W. Finger at Robert Harkey’s home. Deputy
Sheriff Charles Kirkland was killed, and Levi Higg was wounded. Ben Caughron, a
resister, was found hiding behind a door. He was convicted of murdering Kirkland
and sentenced to die in the electric chair. His older and younger brothers were
sentenced to fifteen years and life respectively. Harkey, Towry, and Kerr were
also sentenced to terms in prison. None of the resisters were charged with draft
evasion and therefore their cases were tried in state verses federal courts.
Caughron stated that he was a socialist, and a mountain man. Prior to his death
he stated that he would have fought in the war had it not been viewed as a rich
man’s war; however, to have been forced to fight as a mountain man would only
assure rebellion and no fear of death.
The July 1918 Cleburne County “Draft War” received the most publicity and
kicked off a serious of “draft wars” in Arkansas. “Old man” Tom Adkisson’s home
place in Heber Springs was the sight of a gunfight and “cat-and-mouse” game
for a period of a week. Eight men were surrounded by over 100-armed local men,
law enforcement officers, and the Arkansas National Guard. They were not arrested
as a group, but individually, as each one came out of hiding hungry and exhausted.
Adkisson did not site socialism but religion as his reason for not fighting
in the war. He and his followers believed that to fight in WWI would damn them
to hell. They believed in Russellite Doctrine that did not oppose self-defense,
only war. The book they read, that had been banned in 1917, The Finished Mystery
“labeled wars of patriotisms and nationalism as a narrow minded hatred of other
peoples.”
Adkisson labeled himself a conscientious objector who “did not want my sons
to go to war.” He and one of his men were tried in a state court for murder or
voluntary manslaughter and served time in prison. Five members of the group were
held in the Camp Pike guardhouse on July 20, 1918 and charged with desertion.
They were sentenced to five years of hard labor and released with a dishonorable
discharge from the Army.
In order to avoid the draft, some men chose suicide, were executed, fought
in “draft wars,” and suffered religious persecution.
Draft resistance in WWI set precedence for years to come
Activities: Students will review terms and period appropriate maps. Students
will be given the opportunity to role-play scripts of President Woodrow Wilson
during his April 2, 1917 speech insisting, “the world must be made safe for democracy”
and asking that the United States declare war on Germany. To develop speeches
to "root out" traitors and “slackers” and to win the war. To make a speech for
Governor Brough to raise money for Liberty Loan drives. To make a pitch for draft
resisters from physically challenged persons, religiously conflicted persons,
and “against anything to do with government interference” persons. Students should
have access to a copy of the selective service draft card for WWI and work in
small groups to draft and prepare their speeches. Time should be allowed for role-play
and writing a paragraph about what they learned about Draft Resistance during
WWI.
Closure: Remind students that the idea of conscription or the draft is not new;
however, the fact that ALL men had to register between the ages of 18 and
45 had certain implications and consequences for those who did not register.
During WWI the primary exemption from registering for the draft was only for
currently serving military men.
Assessment: Students will write a paragraph explaining the draft, and
listing two types of
draft evasion, and probable implications for draft resistance during
WWI.
Resources: Selander, Judith A. “Draft Resistance in Arkansas During WWI.”
Ozark
Historical Review, II, Spring 1973, p. 1-12.
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