Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!oliveb!apple!rutgers!att!cbnews!henry@zoo.toronto.edu
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: National Guard and Reserves
Message-ID: <5142@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 27 Mar 89 02:18:35 GMT
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From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
>1. The state militia was created because the states were scared of each other.
>   In fact they apparently joke around here about the possibility of calling
>   out the National Guard to go to war with LA about water rights!

Historically, the states had some reason to be worried about each other.
Remember that a period of some years elapsed between independence and
the arrival of the Constitution.  During that period, the 13 states were
very nearly independent countries, printing their own money, governing
themselves, and engaging in minor border disputes.  ("State" used to mean
"country" until you careless Americans confused things... :-) :-) :-))

There was also a strong feeling that locally-run militia were less likely
to act against popular wishes than a federal army.  Consider that there
is actually a Constitutional amendment whose only purpose is to affirm
that it is legal for Congress to maintain a federal army!  That amendment
was the subject of some debate, too -- some thought that any federal army
was dangerous.

                                     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
                                 uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu