the expiration of his term of service by the payment of money or any other valuable thing whatsoever as consideration his release from military service or liability there to. National registration days and termination During World War I there were three registrations. The first, on June 5, 1917, was for all men between the ages of 21 and 30. The second, on June 5, 1918, registered those who attained age 21 after June 5, 1917. A supplemental registration, included in the second registration, was held on August 24, 1918, for those becoming 21 years old after June 5, 1918. The third, on September 12, 1918, was for men age 18 through 45. The Selective Service Act was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in the Selective Draft Law Cases, . The Solicitor General's argument and the court's opinion were based primarily on Kneedler v. Lane, 45 Pa. 238, 252 (1863) and Vattel's 1758 treatise The Law of Nations. After the signing of the armistice of November 11, 1918, the activities of the Selective Service System were rapidly curtailed. On March 31, 1919, all local, district, and medical advisory boards were closed, and on May 21, 1919, the last state headquarters closed operations. The Provost Marshal General was relieved from duty on July 15, 1919, thereby finally terminating the activities of the Selective Service System of World War I. Draft categories Conscription was by class. The first candidates were to be drawn from Class I. Members of each class below Class I were available only if the pool of all available and potential candidates in the class above it were exhausted. African-Americans The American military was entirely segregated at the time of World War I. While the Army had several regiments of black "Buffalo Soldiers", many politicians such as Sen. James K. Vardaman (Mississippi) and Sen. Benjamin Tillman (South Carolina) staunchly opposed any expanded military role for black Americans. Nevertheless, the War Department decided to include black people in the draft. A total of 2,290,527 black Americans were ultimately registered for the draft during the two calls of June 2 and September 12, 1917 – 9.6 percent of the total American pool for potential conscription. Draft board officials were told to tear off the lower left-hand corner of the Selective Service form of a black registrant, indicating his designation for segregated units. The August 1917 Houston Riot, when armed black