This web site will help you to understand the conscientious objector experience in Canada during the Second World War. Through pictures, words, and voices you will meet the men who chose to be COs. You will find out why they became COs and what happened to them during the war.
The web site will also raise some questions about what you believe and why you believe it. Canada has not been involved in a war where the government imposed military conscription since the Second World War, but it is important to think about what would happen if you had to make a hard choice like the conscientious objectors did.
Conscientious objectors are people who refuse to participate in the military and war. Some are civilians who do things like oppose war taxes and work to reduce the role of the military in society. Others become conscientious objectors only after they have experienced being in the military firsthand, either during peacetime or wartime.
The Center on Conscience & War (CCW), formerly the National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors (NISBCO), was formed in 1940 by an association of religious bodies. CCW works to defend and extend the rights of conscientious objectors. The Center is committed to supporting all those who question participation in war, whether they are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, documented or undocumented immigrants--or citizens in other countries.
This web site was conceived in May 2002 as a response to the many requests received at the Swarthmore College Peace Collection for information about conscientious objection. The Peace Collection has a very large amount of material by and about COs in the United States, but even so, there are many other institutions with primary sources that could be helpful to scholars and other researchers. The goal for the site has been to provide information and as many links as possible to archival sources in particular, as well as lists of other resources available and background information about conscientious objection in America.
This project was written as an Honors Senior Project at Western Washington University.
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Development of Conscientious Objection Through World War I
Chapter 2: World War II and the Origin of Modern Conscientious Objection
Chapter 3: The Legal History of Conscientious Objection
Chapter 4: Conscientious Objection During the Vietnam War
Chapter 5: The Religious Response to Conscientious Objection
Conclusion
Appendix: Charts and Tables
Bibliography
