| Militia (united States) |
Article Index for Militia |
Website Links For Militia |
Information AboutMilitia (united States) |
|
:See New Hampshire Provincial Regiment for a history of a Provincial unit during the French and Indian War. John Parker ]] In the American Revolutionary War , colonial militiamen or armed citizens agreed to turn out for Service at a minute's notice. The term Minutemen is used especially for the men who were enrolled ( 1774 ) for such Service by the Massachusetts provincial Congress . These were also known as the " Valiant farmers" who Fought against the British at the Battles Of Lexington And Concord . The delegates of the Constitutional Convention, (the founding fathers/framers of the was intended to formalize this balance between the "well-regulated" unorganized militia and organized military forces. The militia act of 1792 clarified whom the militia consists of; ''" I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years"'' James Madison was among the strongest proponents for the creation of a militia in lieu of a standing army during the Constitutional debates; ''"The highest number to which a standing army can be carried in any country does not exceed one hundredth part of the souls, or one twenty-fifth part of the number able to bear arms. This portion would not yield, in the United States, an army of more than twenty-five or thirty thousand men. To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence. It may well be doubted whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops. Besides the advantage of being armed, it forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. The governments of Europe are afraid to trust the people with arms. If they did, the people would surely shake off the yoke of tyranny, as America did. Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens of America with the suspicion that they would be less able to defend the rights of which they would be in actual possession than the debased subjects of arbitrary power would be to rescue theirs from the hands of their oppressors."''-(Source I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789) Trench Coxe a prominent American political economist(1755-1824) who attended the earlier convention in Annapolis, explained (in the Pennsylvania Federal Gazette on June 18th, 1789) the founders definition of who the militia was and why they chose to create it; ''"The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be tremendous and irresistible. Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American ...the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments,but, where I trust in God it will ever remain,in the hands of the people.'' ''The militia, who are in fact the effective part of the people at large, will render many troops quite unnecessary. They will form a powerful check upon the regular troops, and will generally be sufficient to over-awe them.'' ''Whereas civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as military forces, which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms."'' The purpose of the militia, as envisioned by the framers of the Constitution of the United States, can be further demonstrated by the words of Representative Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts (from 1 Annals of Congress at 750, 17 August 1789); ''"What, sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty . . . Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins."'' The importance of the miltia continued during the middle of the 1800s, as can be demonstrated in both the Militia Act of 1852, and the Morrill Act of 1862. The Morrill Act of July 2nd, 1862 provided federally aided land grants to colleges and universities. A condition of these grants included mandatory military training ''"in order to prepare well-educated men for leadership in the militia."'' In contrast the United States National Guard , created by the Militia Act Of 1903 , was a federalized portion of the State militias which were converted into regular troops kept in reserve for the United States Army. The Defense Act of 1916 placed all state militia units under the National Guard. This act was later amended in 1933 under the National Guard Mobilization Act , to place all National Guard units under the control of the United States Army making them regular troops and effectively ending their status as constitutional militia forces under Article 1, section 8, paragraphs 15,16, of the Federal Constitution and the second amendment of the Federal Constitution. The current ." Section 313 of Title 32 refers to persons with prior military experience who could serve as officers. These persons remain members of the militia until age 64. Paragraph (b) further states, "The classes of the militia are: (1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and (2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia." {Link without Title} . The National Guard is the largest of the organized federal reserve military forces in the United States. The National Guard is classified (under title 10, see above) as the organized federal militia as it is under both federal and state control, and both the and Maryland also have organized state "militia" forces or State Guards which are under the control of the governor of a state, however many of these "militia" also act as a reserve for the National Guard and are thus a part of it (varies from state to state depending on individual state statutory laws). New York and Ohio also have active Naval Militia s, and a few other states have on-call or proposed ones. In 1990, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of ''Perpich v. Department of Defense'' that the Federal government has plenary power over the National Guard, and greatly reduced (to the point of nonexistence) the state government's ability to withhold consent to Federal deployments and training missions of the National Guard. {Link without Title} During some wars, both the suitability and effectiveness of the National Guard have been questioned, because of perceptions that personnel are often hastily, or not fully, trained for the roles they are asked to perform. For many decades, there were persistent allegations of Nepotism , favoritism and/or the use of influence in the commissioning and assignment of officers. (See, for example, George W. Bush Military Service Controversy .) Numerous states have their own Guard units separate from the National Guard; some authorized by the states themselves, like the Alabama State Defense Force , others simply are acknowledged by the state as their official State Guard. These units have no affiliation with the National Guard. (For information on organized private-militias, see US Private Militias , below.) U.S. ORGANIZED PRIVATE-MILITIAS Within the of ultrapatriots in the United States. A few small private-militia groups developed within the United States during the 1970s and 1980s, but the movement experienced a wave of growth in the 1990s for various reasons including the Gordon Kahl , Ruby Ridge , and Waco incidents and the passage of the Brady Law , and 1994 "Assault Weapons" Ban. Private-militia activities range from organized lawful protesting of government policies to criminal activities including the illegal modification and manufacture of firearms and explosives. However, the majority of private-militia groups are non-violent and only a small segment of the private-militias actually commit acts of violence to advance their political goals and beliefs. A number of leaders of these groups, such as Lynn Van Huizen of the Michigan Militia Corps-Wolverines, have gone to some effort to actively rid their ranks of radical members who are inclined to carry out acts of violence and/or terrorism. Officials at the FBI Academy classify private-militia groups within four categories, ranging from moderate groups who do not engage in criminal activity to radical cells which commit violent acts of terrorism. The FBI has published its report on the militia movement and has determined that the movement is not a threat to the national security of the United States. Private-militia anxiety, paranoia of Globalism , and Millenarianism relating to the year 2000 were based mainly on a political ideology, as opposed to religious beliefs. Private-militia leaders espoused the idea that the year 2000 would lead to political and personal repression enforced by the United Nations and countenanced by a compliant U.S. government. This ideology centers around what is known as the New World Order (NWO) Conspiracy Theory . Other issues which have served as motivating factors for the private-militia movement include gun control, the incidents at Ruby Ridge (1992) and Waco (1993), the publishing of the controversial novel '' Unintended Consequences '' by John Ross (1996), the Montana Freemen standoff (1996) and the restriction of land use by federal agencies, as well as present and past circuit and Supreme Court decisions regarding both the constitution and its amendments (specifically the first 10). In response to the attack of September 11 , congress passed the Patriot Act , a law that supposedly helps fight terrorism, without debate. The Patriot Act contains federal legislation similar to that which the New World Order conspiracy theorists predicted. Many feel this act has eroded many American constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, and may encourage growth in the survivalist, private-militia, and "Patriot" subcultures. The previously-mentioned novel ''Unintended Consequences'', as well as non-fiction and fictional works by author Boston T. Party , have encouraged growth in these groups and in the Gun Culture . LEFT WING MILITIA During the 1950s and 1960s, left wing militia groups like the Black Panthers and Young Lords claimed an association with armed 'national liberation' groups of the time. Both groups used guerilla-style uniforms, organized under a Marxist political party style structure; for example their leaders were the 'Chairman' and 'Minister of Information' rather than using a military structure. According to the FBI the Black Panthers organization "advocated the use of guns and guerrilla tactics by African Americans to protect themselves and to bring about the overthrow of the United States Government." The FBI classified the BPP as a domestic-terrorist organization and not a "militia group". The 1990s and early 2000s has seen the rise of groups such as the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front , who, according to the FBI, are responsible for numerous arsons, vandalism, theft, and intimidation throughout the United States. The groups are not considered militia organizations by the US Department of Justice. According to the FBI's 2000/2001 publicaton on Terrorism in the United States, ALF and ELF are classified as domestic-terrorist organizations. LIST OF U.S. MILITIAS U.S. Federal militia forces U.S. State Defense Forces U.S. Private militias
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCES Historic
Legislative analysis Scholarly
Critical of contemporary private miltias
Critical of government (works which influenced private-militia ideology)
Artifact
|
|
|