Crossing the Rubicon

The Founders of our republic feared several things. One of the greatest of those fears was the deprivation of the people’s liberty by the government deploying a standing army. That fear was so pervasive because of England’s use of its army to quell the colonists as they attempted to air their grievances against parliament and the king.

In the state constitutions that were drafted during the Revolutionary War and the Articles of Confederation, most stated that standing armies were dangerous to the liberty of the people. However, those documents did specifically include clauses declaring that having a common defense required a well-regulated militia comprised of the people. It was every citizen’s duty and responsibility to be part of that militia.

The United States was a nation that, at birth, had no intention of having a standing army. At first in our early years, there was one regiment stationed on outposts on the nation’s borders to protect against invasion rather than in populated areas.

The 2nd Amendment enshrined the view that citizens must be ready to defend the nation against threats both domestic and foreign. There was never a thought that white individual males did not have the right to be part of the militia and to individually own arms.

Madison wrote that, “Always remember that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics — that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe.”