Subjects for action

One of the most important subjects for action by local militia units is investigation of election fraud and other kinds of official corruption. It will do little good to try to elect better officials if elections are rigged, and if they are, the militia may become the only way for citizens to secure their rights. If such fraud is found, it will also help to build public support for further militia action and for greater participation.

Another key subject is to inform citizens of their right and duty, when serving as jurors in cases in which the government is a party, to judge the law and not just the facts in the case. No matter how despicable the defendant in a criminal case or how heinous the offense, the jury must find the defendant not guilty if the law under which he is charged is unconstitutional or misapplied. It is unconstitutional if it violates a constitutional right, is not based on a power delegated to government, or is so vague that honest people may disagree on how to obey or enforce it. It is misapplied if it is applied to acts outside its proper jurisdiction, such as a federal criminal law applied to acts committed on state territory, or to acts not intended to be included by the lawmakers.

One of the most important subjects for action will be to establish an alert system for warning of abuses of citizens by organs of the government, and mobilizing to defend them. It must be emphasized that it is not enough for citizens to defend their rights in isolation. Only if they band together can their rights be protected.

Education in constitutional law must also be a priority. Every citizen must be trained to interpret the constitutionality of laws and official acts, and taught that doing so is the responsibility of each individual, that it cannot be delegated to others, such as judges or superiors. That is the Lesson of Nuremberg. Special attention needs to be given to educating lawyers, judges, officials, and college and high school students. Militia members need to make sure that every public library contains suitable books and magazines that provide education on these subjects.

References:

• Morgan Norval, ed., The Militia in 20th Century America: A Symposium, 1985, available from Gun Owners Foundation, 5881 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041.
• Stephen P. Halbrook, That Every Man Be Armed, 1984, available from the Independent Institute, 134 98th Ave, Oakland, CA 94603.
• James M. & Kenneth F. Collier, Votescam: The Stealing of America, 1992, available from Victoria House Press, 67 Wall St #2411, New York, NY 10005.
• Dr. Edwin Vieira Jr., LLD, The Sword and Sovereignty, “The Constitutional Principals of “the Militia of the Several States” PDF

Militia Acts

The Militia Acts were passed in response to the overwhelming U.S. losses at St. Clair’s Defeat.[1] The Constitution permitted Congress to provide for calling forth the militia, but it was understood at the time that the president could not do so on his own authority absent that statutory provision. There was a widespread fear that the Western Confederacy of American Indians would exploit their victory during the recess of Congress. St. Clair’s defeat was blamed in part on the poor organization and equipment of his army.[2] Congress took action to remedy these problems in 1792.

First Militia Act of 1792

The first Act, passed May 2, 1792, provided for the authority of the president to call out the militias of the several states, “whenever the United States shall be invaded, or be in imminent danger of invasion from any foreign nation or Indian tribe.”[3] The law also authorized the President to call the militias into Federal service “whenever the laws of the United States shall be opposed or the execution thereof obstructed, in any state, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by this act”. [4] This provision likely referred to uprisings such as Shays’ Rebellion. The president’s authority in both cases was to expire after two years.

• This can get sticky as the Militia may only be called forth to enforce Constitutional Laws and that can cause a refusal of the Call out.

Second Militia Act of 1792

Front page of a newspaper announcing the second Militia Act of 1792.

The second Act, passed May 8, 1792, provided for the organization of the state militias. It conscripted every “free able-bodied white male citizen” between the ages of 18 and 45 into a local militia company. (This was later expanded to all males, regardless of race, between the ages 18-54)

Militia members were to arm themselves with a musket, bayonet and belt, two spare flints, a cartridge box with 24 bullets, and a knapsack. Men owning rifles were required to provide a powder horn, 1/4 pound of gunpowder, 20 rifle balls, a shooting pouch, and a knapsack.[5] Some occupations were exempt, such as congressmen, stagecoach drivers, and ferryboat men. Otherwise, men were required to report for training twice a year, usually in the Spring and Fall.

The militias were divided into “divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies” as the state legislatures would direct.[6] The provisions of the first Act governing the calling up of the militia by the President in case of invasion or obstruction to law enforcement were continued in the second Act.[7] Court martial proceedings were authorized by the statute against militia members who disobeyed orders.[8]

Use and subsequent amendments

The authority to call forth the militia was first invoked by George Washington to put down the Whiskey rebellion in Western Pennsylvania in 1794, just before the law granting that authority expired. Congress quickly passed the Militia Act of 1795, which made the provisions of the 1792 act permanent.

These Militia Acts were amended by the Militia Act of 1862, which allowed African-Americans to serve in the militias of the United States. They were replaced by the Militia Act of 1903, which established the United States National Guard as the chief body of organized military reserves in the United States.

References

1.  Schecter, Barnet (2010). George Washington’s America. A Biography Through His Maps. New York: Walker & Company. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-8027-1748-1.

2. “Samuel Hodgdon, 5th Quartermaster General”. Fort Lee, Virginia: US Army Quartermaster Foundation. Retrieved 9 May 2011.

3. Militia Act of 1792, May 2, 1792, art. I, ss. 1

4. Militia Act of 1792, May 2, 1792, art. I, ss. 2

5. Militia Act of 1792, May 8, 1792, art. I, ss. 1(i)

6. Militia Act of 1792, May 8, 1792, art. I, ss. 1(iii)3

7. Militia Act of 1792, May 8, 1792, art. I, ss. 3

8. Militia Act of 1792, May 2, 1792, art. I, ss. 5

Note the ever tightening of the bureaucratic grip with each minor setback to the chief executive.

The Supreme Court of the US has ruled that the National Guard is a Special Federal Militia which effectively removes the National Guard from State control but it puts them squarely before the people when push comes to shove.

If you have truly read this far, you should have noted, under “Subjects for action” above the array of concern of the Militia. This is exactly why the government of the US demonizes the Militia. The Militia can put them in jail!

To see an example of the Militia in action within the US, see the article “The Battle of Athens, Tennessee” at http://jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/athens.htm.

Distressingly, we now have a lot of special militias in the USA — the Secret Service, FBI, BATF, DEA, IRS, the National Guard and today’s “near federalized” status of most state and local police departments — to name but a few. And they are all unconstitutional, if the plain meaning of the 2nd Amendment and the 1792 Militia Act is correct. George Mason’s fears about them were well placed and have come tragically true. All these alphabet-soup special militias can do and have done (other than freely lapping up taxpayer money in ever-increasing amounts) is be responsible for numerous cruel and meaningless tragedies. These range from spying on, harassing and ruining the lives of anyone deemed an “enemy of the state,” to brutally breaking strikes, violently disrupting demonstrations and killing innocent people in places ranging from Kent State to Ruby Ridge and Waco.

So the statist left has its “militia” and the rest of us have ours. No wonder so many of them cannot free themselves from the false but mesmerizing aura of the “Militia = National Guard” equation. The statist left does not want to because it is interested not in the right of individuals to protect their lives and liberty against a tyrannical federal government, but in giving that tyrannical federal government a blank check, figuratively and literally, to indulge in state-sponsored terror under the tautological trinity of “crime prevention,” “anti-terrorism” and “national security.” And President Barak Hussein Obama and Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, have all but told us to “get used to the idea.”

So there it is. Civilian militia versus the US government special militias. Which do you support? Think about that question the next time you are cajoled by the Million Mom March morons to support “sensible gun laws” or are exhorted by the denizens of the pseudo-patriotic “law-and-order” crowd to “back the badge.”

Copyright (C) 1994 Constitution Society. Permission is hereby granted to copy with attribution for noncommercial purposes.