militia

Examples of militia in the following topics:

• The Forage War

  • A large number of militia from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania bolstered these forces.
  • Also in January, militia pressure led British General Cornwallis to withdraw most of the northern troops to the shores of the Hudson.
  • Small British foraging and raiding parties were met by larger formations of American militia companies, sometimes with Continental Army support, that at times led to significant casualties.
  • These difficulties forced British commanders to change tactics, attempting to lure American militia units into traps involving larger numbers of British regulars.
  • This strategy was not entirely successful, as militia and Continental commanders used superior knowledge of the geography to set even more elaborate traps.

• Colonial Armed Forces

  • Each colony sponsored a local militia.
  • The minutemen constituted about a quarter of the entire militia.
  • George Washington is well-known for his scathing opinion of the shortcomings of militia forces.
  • Members of the militias, however, were not included in this new mode of training.
  • These American militias were an important supplement to the Continental Army.

• The Second Amendment

  • The Second Amendment gives the right to bear arms, and can arguably apply to individuals or state militias depending on interpretation.
  • The right to bear arms was seen as a check against tyranny, both domestic and foreign, and was designed to help states easily raise organized militias.
  • The amendment reads "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. " In some interpretations of the bill the right to bear arms is a collective right, exclusively or primarily given to states to arm a militia.

• Lexington and Concord

  • Gage’s actions led to the formation of local rebel militias that were able to mobilize in a minute’s time.
  • On the night of April 18, 1775, General Gage sent 700 men to seize munitions stored by the colonial militia at Concord.
  • Hoping for secrecy, his troops left Boston under cover of darkness, but riders from Boston let the militias know of the British plans.
  • Shots were exchanged, eight minutemen were killed, the outnumbered colonial militia dispersed, and the British moved on to Concord.
  • The Revolutionary War had begun, and the militia army continued to grow as surrounding colonies sent men and supplies.

• Colonies in Crisis

  • On April 18, 1689, a well-organized "mob" of provincial militia and citizens formed in the city of Boston.
  • Andros, commissioned governor of New England in 1686, had earned the enmity of the local populace by enforcing the restrictive Navigation Acts, denying the validity of existing land titles, restricting town meetings, and appointing unpopular regular officers to lead colonial militia, among other actions that were part of an attempt to bring the colonies under the closer control of the crown.
  • Following similar frustrations against the rule and policies of James II as the Bostonians, German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the southern part of the colony of New York and ruled it from 1689 to 1691.

• The Second Amendment

  • A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

• Nat Turner's Rebellion

  • A white militia with twice the manpower of the rebels and reinforced by three companies of artillery eventually defeated the insurrection.
  • Within a day of the suppression of the rebellion, the local militia and three companies of artillery were joined by detachments of men from the USS Natchez and USS Warren, which were anchored in Norfolk, and militias from counties in Virginia and North Carolina surrounding Southampton.
  • Militias killed at least 100 blacks, and probably many more.
  • A company of militia from Hertford County, North Carolina reportedly killed 40 blacks in one day and took $23 and a gold watch from the dead.
  • Captain Solon Borland, who led a contingent from Murfreesboro, North Carolina, condemned the acts "because it was tantamount to theft from the white owners of the slaves. " Blacks suspected of participating in the rebellion were beheaded by the militia.

• Fighting for Liberty

  • Both free and enslaved Africans had served in local militias, especially in the North, defending their villages against attacks by Native Americans.
  • In March 1775, the Continental Congress assigned units of the Massachusetts militia as Minutemen.
  • Peter Salem, who had been freed by his owner to join the Framingham militia was one of the blacks in the militia.

• The Whiskey Rebellion

  • Washington did both: he sent commissioners to meet with the rebels while raising a militia army.
  • On August 7, Washington issued a presidential proclamation announcing, with "the deepest regret", that the militia would be called out to suppress the rebellion .
  • The militia was called up from New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and eastern Pennsylvania and produced a large force of over 12,000 men.
  • Because relatively few men volunteered for militia service, a draft was used to fill out the ranks, causing further unrest in other states.

• The Fifth Amendment

  • No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.