Presents
Pamphlet #713
GEORGE WASHINGTON
AGREED WITH PATRICK HENRY ON THE PURPOSE OF THE MILITIA:
HE DECLARED THAT
IT WAS TO
"OPPOSE THE INTRODUCTION
OF TYRANNY"
On September 17,
1787 George Washington was the first to sign
and accept the
Constitution even though it had no Bill of Rights.
It was Patrick
Henry with his great speeches and lectures
who in 1788 forced
an agreement which promised
that continued
ratifications of the document depended upon a Bill of Rights to be forthcoming.
In 1789 Washington
took office and was faced with the arduous task
of pioneering
the first presidency including the structuring of the militia system.
By January 1790
the influence Patrick Henry had over him became quite apparent.
When Washington
chaired the 1787 Constitutional Convention,
provi-sions had
been made for the defense of the country against invasion
and for stifling
rebellions,
but there was
an insufficiency of safeguards to be applied against tyranny brought on
by public officials.
By 1790 Washington
began work on his "Plan No. 2 for the Organization of the Militia."
By now he was
more able to see the weaknesses in the Constitution.
He openly discussed
the threat of tyranny emanating from within the government.
By then, Patrick
Henry’s wisdom was spread throughout the 13 original states,
and it was inculcated
as the basis for the policies and functions of the militia.
Henry perpetuated
the people’s liberty
. He sustained
the ultimate authority of the people.
Washington well
understood the need to safeguard the nation from its foreign enemies.
In his "Plan
No. 2 for the Organization of the Militia" he undertook to warn
about the dangers
of domestic enemies: tyranny in government.
Washington himself
took the farmers out for practice,
and he utilized
the knowledge and experiences of his generals
and other valuable
officers in the War for Independence by having them instruct
and train the
citizens (the whole people) in the techniques of soldiering,
and the maintenance
of an ‘energetic national militia’.
His "Plan No.
2 for the Organization of the Militia" was communicated to the Senate,
on the 21st of
January 1790.
This lengthy
Plan was permeated with the proposition that it is the direct duty and
responsibility
of the people
themselves to guard against tyranny from within government.
Washington declared
that the purpose of the militia was
"to oppose the
introduction of tyranny."
He had come a
long way from the days when he accepted the Constitution without a Bill
of Rights.
To view Washington’s
statement in the context in which it was delivered,
please look over
the following excerpt taken from Pages 7-8
of an old document
published by Gales and Seaton in 1832 entitled
"American State
Papers - Documents, Legislative and Executive,
of the Congress
of the United States, from the First Session
of the First
to the Second Session of the Fifteenth Congress,
inclusive: commencing
March 3, 1789, and ending March 3, 1819".
This excerpt is
a part of Washington’s lengthy Plan No. 2 of 1790.
While he also
made re-ference to the prevention of invasion and rebellion,
Washington said
that "the well informed members of the community (the people)
were meant to
be the real defence of the country";
and "the virtues
and knowledge of the people would effectually oppose the introduction of
tyranny."
He warned that
"the government would be invaded or overturned,
and trampled
upon by the bold and ambitious"
-- meaning people
in our own country who operated without adherence to vital principles.
The absoluteness
of the right of the people to keep and bear arms is a basic principle.
Unless the right
to arms is absolute, the people cannot remain the ultimate power.
The Bill of Rights
confirmed that we possess many other rights beside the absolute right to
arms.
All of the other
rights for the preservation of their own existence,
depend entirely
upon the absoluteness, the force,
and the reasoning
that have shaped the Second Amend-ment.
Washington agreed
with Patrick Henry on the purpose of the militia:
It was to "oppose
the introduction of tyranny."
Make no mistake
about it:
The prime reason
for the Second Amend-ment is prevention of tyranny in government.
Bernadine Smith EXCERPT FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON’S 1790 PLAN
FOR THE ORGANIZATION
OF THE MILITIA
"An energetic
national militia is to be regarded as the capital security of a free republic,
and not a standing
army, forming a distinct class in the community.
It is the introduction
and diffusion of vice,
and corruption
of manners, into the mass of the people,
that renders
a standing army necessary.
It is when public
spirit is despised, and avarice, indolence,
and effeminacy
of manners predominate,
and prevent the
establishment of institutions which would elevate the minds of the youth
in the paths
of virtue and honor, that a standing army is formed and riveted forever.
While the human
character remains unchanged,
and societies
and governments of considerable extent are formed,
a principle ever
ready to execute the laws, and defend the state, must constantly exist.
Without this
vital principle, the government would be invaded or overturned,
and trampled
upon by the bold and ambitious.
No community
can be long held together,
unless its arrangements
are adequate to its probable exigencies.
If it should be
decided to reject a standing army for the military branch of the government
of the United States,
as possessing
too fierce an aspect, and being hostile to the principles of liberty,
it will follow
that a well constituted militia ought to be established.
A consideration
of the subject will show the impracticability of disciplining at once the
mass of the people.
All discussions
on the subject of a powerful militia will result in one or other of the
following principles:
First, Either
efficient institutions must be established for the military education of
the youth,
and that the
knowledge acquired therein shall be diffused throughout the community,
by the mean of
rotation; or,
Secondly, That
the militia must be formed of substitutes, after the manner of the militia
of Great Britain.
If the United
States possess the vigor of mind to establish the first institution,
it may reasonably
be expected to produce the most unequivocal advantages.
A glorious national
spirit will be introduced, with its extensive train of political consequences.
The youth will
imbibe a love of their country; reverence and obedience to its laws;
courage and elevation
of mind; openness and liberality of character;
accompanied by
a just spirit of honor: in addition to which their bodies will acquire
a robustness,
greatly conducive
to their personal happiness, as well as the defence of their country;
while habit,
with its silent but efficacious operations, will durably cement the system.
Habit, that powerful
and universal law, incessantly acting on the human race,
well deserves
the attention of legislators-formed at first in individuals,
by separate and
almost imperceptible impulses,
until at length
it acquires a force which controls with irresistible sway.
The effects of
salutary or pernicious habits, operating on a whole nation,
are immense,
and decide its rank and character in the world.
Hence the science
of legislation teaches to scrutinize every national institution,
as it may introduce
proper or improper habits;
to adopt with
religious zeal the former, and reject with horror the latter.
A republic, constructed
on the principles herein stated,
would be uninjured
by events, sufficient to overturn a government
supported solely
by the uncertain power of a standing army.
The well informed
members of the community,
actuated by the
highest motives of self-love, would form the real defence of the country.
Rebellions would
be prevented or suppressed with ease;
invasions of
such a government would be undertaken only by mad men;
and the virtues
and knowledge of the people would effectually oppose the introduction of
tyranny.
But the second
principle, a militia of substitutes, is pregnant, in a degree,
with the mischiefs
of a standing army;
as it is highly
probable the substitutes from time to time will be nearly the same men,
and the most
idle and worthless part of the community.
Wealthy families,
proud of distinctions which riches may confer,
will prevent
their sons from serving in the militia of substitutes;
the plan will
degenerate into habitual contempt; a standing army will be introduced,
and the liberties
of the people subjected to all the contingencies of events.
The expense attending
an energetic establishment of militia may be strongly urged
as an objection
to the institution.
But it is to
be remembered, that this objection is leveled at both systems,
whether by rotation
or by substitutes: for, if the numbers are equal,
the expense will
also be equal.
The estimate
of the expense will show its unimportance,
when compared
with the magnitude and beneficial effects of the institution.
But the people
of the United States will cheerfully consent
to the expenses
of a measure calculated to serve as a perpetual barrier to their liberties;
especially as
they well know that the disbursements will be made
among the members
of the same community, and therefore cannot be injurious.
Every intelligent
mind would rejoice in the establishment of an institution,
under whose auspices
the youth and vigor of the constitution
would be renewed
with each successive generation,
and which would
appear to secure the great principles of freedom and happiness
against the injuries
of time and events.
The following
plan is formed on these general principles:
First, That it
is the indispensable duty of every nation to establish
all necessary
institutions for its own perfection and defence.
Secondly, That
it is a capital security to a free state,
for the great
body of the people to possess a competent knowledge of the military art.
Thirdly, That
this knowledge cannot be attained, in the present state of society,
but by establishing
adequate institutions for the military education of youth;
and that the
knowledge acquired therein should be diffused throughout the community
by the principles of rotation.
Fourthly, That
every man of the proper age, and ability of body,
is firmly bound,
by the social compact, to perform, personally,
his proportion
of military duty for the defence of the state.
Fifthly, That
all men, of the legal military age, should be armed,
enrolled, and
held responsible for different degrees of military service.
And Sixthly, That
agreeably to the constitution, the United States
are to provide
for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia,
and for governing
such a part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States;
reserving to
the States, respectively, the appointment of the officers,
and the authority
of training the militia, according to the discipline prescribed by Congress."
End of excerpt from the 1790 Plan for Organization of the Militia
GEORGE WASHINGTON
George Washington
is listed as No. 1 in the Hall of Fame.
In addition to
his many other remarkable achievements,
his Farewell
Address also has gone down in history as one of the greatest writings of
all time.
In it he warned
against engaging in foreign influence and entanglements,
weakening the
fabric of the constitutional government,
loss of respect
for national morality and religious principles,
growth of party
spirit, and against the devastation brought on by pretended patriotism.
It was a disgraceful
effort which caused February 22nd, Washington’s birthday,
to be renamed
as President’s Day,
thus reducing
the respect due to a man who had contributed so much of himself.