On this Day in History

On September 16, in 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Selective Service and Training Act. This mandated all male citizens between the ages of 26 and 35 to register for the military draft, beginning on October 16. According to History.com, the act had been passed by Congress 10 days earlier.

America was not yet involved in the Second World War, but Roosevelt considered it a prudent step to train American men for military service in case the U.S. would have to defend itself against the growing threat of fascist and militarist regimes in Europe and Japan. At the time, Poland, Holland, Belgium, France and Norway had been invaded by Germany and word had begun to spread of Hitler's persecution of Jews and other minorities in concentration camps. It appeared that Great Britain would be next on the list of Nazi casualties. From July 1940, Hitler's Air Force bombarded England and the German navy blockaded the island nation in preparation for a planned invasion.

Although many Americans preferred to stay out of another conflict in Europe--World War I was still fresh in many minds--there was little resistance to the draft and, in the end, the measure might have been unnecessary. After the Japanese bombed Hawaii's Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, American men flocked to recruitment centers to enlist in the military.