Luther Martin’s Warning: The Constitution as a Threat to State Sovereignty
Luther Martin, a prominent Anti-Federalist, warned that the proposed Constitution would destroy state sovereignty by concentrating power in a centralized national government. One of the few opponents of the constitution to attend as a delegate to the Philadelphia...
The Founders’ Case for a Strong Militia Over Standing Armies
One of the primary reasons the founders wanted a strong militia system with a well-armed general public was to minimize or even eliminate the need for a large, permanent standing army, even in times of peace. Most people in the founding generation were extremely wary...
Informing the Founders: A Short History of Standing Armies in England
The founding generation harbored a deep distrust of standing armies. This flowed not only from their first-hand experience with the British, but also from arguments against permanent military forces rooted in English tradition. John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon were...