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New Additions to My Primary Sources Page
These are all here. 1777: >From James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, ed., Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801 (Harrisburg, Penn.: William Stanley Ray, 1898), 9:75-94. Another long militia statute, obligating (on page 77) every white male inhabitant from 18 to 53 to be enlisted in the militia, with exemptions for members of the Continental Congress, state officials, ministers, faculty of colleges, and "servants purchased bona fide" (which would seem to include slaves as well as indentured servants). Much of this statute is a very tedious organization of the militia to ensure that not everyone would get called out simultaneously, and to make sure that no one was unfairly forced to serve more than others, dividing the militia into multiple "classes" Unlike previous militia statutes of Pennsylvania, this provides for the government to arm at least two classes in each company. 1777: From James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, ed., Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801 (Harrisburg, Penn.: William Stanley Ray, 1898), 9:110-14. Not really a militia law, the Test Act is sometimes cited by those attempting to prove that the right to keep and bear arms was not considered a fundamental right, because those refusing to swear an oath of loyalty to the revolutionary government would be disarmed. The theory then is that if this was not considered a fundamental right, then it should not be considered a fundamental right today, subject to whatever restrictions the government sees fit. As the Act explains on page 111, "whereas allegiance and protection are reciprocal, and those who will bear the former are not nor ought not to be entitled to the benefits of the latter" the Act specifies (on pages 112-113) that all white males refusing to take the oath "shall during the time of such neglect or refusal be incapable of holding any office or place of trust in this state, serving on juries, suing for any debts, electing or being elected, buying, selling or transferring any lands, tenements or hereditaments, and shall be disarmed by the lieutenant or sub-lieutenants of the city or counties respectively." Hmmm. By the "not a fundamental right" logic, there would be a lot of other rights lost as well. 1777: From James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, ed., Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801 (Harrisburg, Penn.: William Stanley Ray, 1898), 9:131-6. This supplement to the militia law above is primarily technical in providing for election of officers. 1777: From James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, ed., Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801 (Harrisburg, Penn.: William Stanley Ray, 1898), 9:167-9. This militia law was to make "more equal the burden of the public defense" by preventing wealthy people from just paying to avoid militia duty. From all accounts I have read, it wasn't a raging success, and the Philadelphia militia in particular became filled with poor and radical artisans. 1777: From James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, ed., Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801 (Harrisburg, Penn.: William Stanley Ray, 1898), 9:185-9. This "further supplment" to militia law seems to be a simplification of the method of calling out the militia, along with provisions for fines for militiamen failing to do their duty. 1780: From James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, ed., Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801 (Harrisburg, Penn.: William Stanley Ray, 1898), 10:144-73. This seems to be primarily technical changes in how the militia is structured, but I have an odd feeling from what I have read about the radicals in the Philadelphia militia and their struggle against what they perceived as economic oppression, that some of this was to prevent a repeat of the militia's attempt to scare the wealthier classes into submission. |
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