Citizens in Arms

Citizens in Arms
Author: Lawrence Delbert Cress
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780807896419

Citizens in Arms: The Army and Militia in American Society to the War of 1812

Armed Citizens

Armed Citizens
Author: Noah Shusterman
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0813944627

Although much has changed in the United States since the eighteenth century, our framework for gun laws still largely relies on the Second Amendment and the patterns that emerged in the colonial era. America has long been a heavily armed, and racially divided, society, yet few citizens understand either why militias appealed to the founding fathers or the role that militias played in North American rebellions, in which they often functioned as repressive—and racist—domestic forces. In Armed Citizens, Noah Shusterman explains for a general reader what eighteenth-century militias were and why the authors of the Constitution believed them to be necessary to the security of a free state. Suggesting that the question was never whether there was a right to bear arms, but rather, who had the right to bear arms, Shusterman begins with the lessons that the founding generation took from the history of Ancient Rome and Machiavelli’s reinterpretation of those myths during the Renaissance. He then turns to the rise of France’s professional army during seventeenth-century Europe and the fear that it inspired in England. Shusterman shows how this fear led British writers to begin praising citizens’ militias, at the same time that colonial America had come to rely on those militias as a means of defense and as a system to police enslaved peoples. Thus the start of the Revolution allowed Americans to portray their struggle as a war of citizens against professional soldiers, leading the authors of the Constitution to place their trust in citizen soldiers and a "well-regulated militia," an idea that persists to this day.

Citizens in Arms

Citizens in Arms
Author: Lawrence Delbert Cress
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2017-10-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469639963

This first study to discuss the important ideological role of the military in the early political life of the nation examines the relationship between revolutionary doctrine and the practical considerations of military planning before and after the American Revolution. Americans wanted and effective army, but they realized that by its very nature the military could destroy freedom as well as preserve it. The security of the new nation was not in dispute but the nature of republicanism itself. Originally published 1982. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

The Founders' Second Amendment

The Founders' Second Amendment
Author: Stephen P. Halbrook
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2019-01-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1538129671

Stephen P. Halbrook's The Founders' Second Amendment is the first book-length account of the origins of the Second Amendment, based on the Founders' own statements as found in newspapers, correspondence, debates, and resolutions. Mr. Halbrook investigates the period from 1768 to 1826, from the last years of British rule and the American Revolution through to the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the passing of the Founders' generation. His book offers the most comprehensive analysis of the arguments behind the drafting and adoption of the Second Amendment, and the intentions of the men who created it.

A Well-regulated Militia

A Well-regulated Militia
Author: Saul Cornell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN: 0195341031

A leading constitutional historian argues that the Founding Fathers viewed the right to bear arms as neither an individual nor a collective right, but rather an obligation a citizen owed to the government to arm themselves and participate in a well-regulated militia.

Do Guns Make Us Free?

Do Guns Make Us Free?
Author: Firmin DeBrabander
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2015-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0300208936

Possibly the most emotionally charged debate taking place in the United States today centers on the Second Amendment of the Constitution and the rights of citizens to bear arms. In the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre in Connecticut, the gun rights movement headed by the National Rifle Association appears more intractable than ever in its fight against gun control laws. The core argument of Second Amendment advocates is that the proliferation of firearms is essential to maintaining freedom in America, providing private citizens with a defense against possible government tyranny, and safeguarding all our other rights. But is this argument valid? Do guns indeed make us free? Firmin DeBrabrander examines claims offered in favor of unchecked gun ownership in this insightful and eye-opening analysis, the first philosophical examination of every aspect of a contentious, uniquely American debate. By exposing the contradictions and misinterpretations prevalent in the case presented by gun rights supporters, this provocative volume concludes that an armed society is not a free society but one that ultimately discourages and, in fact, actively hinders democratic participation.

The Armed Forces Officer

The Armed Forces Officer
Author: Richard Moody Swain
Publisher: Government Printing Office
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2017
Genre: Study Aids
ISBN: 9780160937583

In 1950, when he commissioned the first edition of The Armed Forces Officer, Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall told its author, S.L.A. Marshall, that "American military officers, of whatever service, should share common ground ethically and morally." In this new edition, the authors methodically explore that common ground, reflecting on the basics of the Profession of Arms, and the officer's special place and distinctive obligations within that profession and especially to the Constitution.

The Citizen's Constitution

The Citizen's Constitution
Author: Seth Lipsky
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2011-04-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0465024300

Pocket versions of the Constitution of the United States of America abound, as do multi-volume commentaries, scholarly histories of its writing, and political posturings of various clauses. But what if you want a delightfully quick, witty, and readable reference that, in one compact volume, places the document and its clauses into context? You're out of luck -- until now. Written by Seth Lipsky, described in the Boston Globe as "a legendary figure in contemporary journalism,&" The Citizen's Constitution draws on the writings of the Founders, case law from our greatest judges, and current events in more than 300 illuminating annotations. Lipsky provides a no-nonsense, entertaining, and learned guide to the fundamental questions surrounding the document that governs how we govern our country. Every American should know the Constitution. Rarely has it glinted so brightly.

A Call to Arms

A Call to Arms
Author: Maury Klein
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 916
Release: 2013-07-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1608194094

The colossal scale of World War II required a mobilization effort greater than anything attempted in all of the world's history. The United States had to fight a war across two oceans and three continents--and to do so, it had to build and equip a military that was all but nonexistent before the war began. Never in the nation's history did it have to create, outfit, transport, and supply huge armies, navies, and air forces on so many distant and disparate fronts. The Axis powers might have fielded better-trained soldiers, better weapons, and better tanks and aircraft, but they could not match American productivity. The United States buried its enemies in aircraft, ships, tanks, and guns; in this sense, American industry and American workers, won World War II. The scale of the effort was titanic, and the result historic. Not only did it determine the outcome of the war, but it transformed the American economy and society. Maury Klein's A Call to Arms is the definitive narrative history of this epic struggle--told by one of America's greatest historians of business and economics--and renders the transformation of America with a depth and vividness never available before.

Up in Arms

Up in Arms
Author: John Temple
Publisher: BenBella Books
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2019-06-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1948836289

"IT'S TIME! They have my cattle and now they have one of my boys. Range War begins tomorrow at Bundy Ranch." These words, pounded out on a laptop at Cliven Bundy's besieged Nevada ranch on April 6, 2014, ignited a new American revolution. Across the country, a certain type of citizen snapped to attention: This was the flashpoint they'd been waiting for, a chance to help a fellow American stand up to a tyrannical and corrupt federal government. Up in Arms chronicles how an isolated clan of desert-dwelling Mormons became the guiding light—and then the outright leaders—of America's Patriot movement. The nation was riveted in 2014 when hundreds of Bundy supporters, many of them armed, forced federal agents to abandon a court-ordered cattle roundup. Then in 2016, Ammon Bundy, one of Cliven's 13 children, led a 41-day armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. Those events and the subsequent shootings, arrests, and trials captured headlines, but they're just part of a story that has never been fully told. John Temple, award-winning journalist and author of American Pain, gives readers an unprecedented and objective look at the real people and families at the heart of these highly publicized standoffs. Up in Arms offers a propulsive narrative populated by rifle-toting cowboys, apocalyptic militiamen, undercover infiltrators, and the devout and charismatic Bundys themselves. Neither mainstream nor conservative media outlets have contextualized the religious, political, environmental, and economic factors that set the stage for these events. Up in Arms provides a framework for understanding this diverse collection of American rebels who believe government overreach justifies the taking up of arms.