First US wartime conscription law took effect

On April 1, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the first wartime conscription law passed in the United States went into effect. It included a clause allowing a person to pay $300 to avoid military service, a controversial “rich man’s” exception that precipitated the July 1863 New York City Draft Riots.

The riots, the worst in US history to that point, killed as many as 100 people and had to be quelled by troops, some of whom had recently fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. Learn more about the Draft Riots.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Amsterdam Treaty signed, broadening scope of EU

On October 2, 1997, European Union delegates signed the Amsterdam Treaty, which broadened the scope of the international organization. It amended previous EU treaties to expand the power of the EU Parliament, start the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and prepare for the influx of post-Communist countries in Eastern Europe.

Thurgood Marshall becomes first African-American Supreme Court justice

On October 2, 1967, civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African-American Supreme Court justice Learn more about Marshall and his career from the Library of Congress.