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Revitalization of the State Militias
A Review of Edwin Vieira's The Sword And Sovereignty
by Nelson Hultberg
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On April 19, 1775, the battles of
Lexington and Concord on the outskirts of Boston ignited the conflict
that led to the most momentous political event of man's history - the
Declaration of Independence and the birth of America. In the early
morning hours of that day, a command of British troops was dispatched
from Boston to search out and confiscate stores of militia weapons and
supplies at Concord. On the way they confronted a small and unimposing
band of armed American militia at Lexington. The British Major John
Pitcairn shouted out, "Ye villains, ye Rebels, disperse; damn you,
disperse! Lay down your arms!"
The American militia were under the
command of Captain, John Parker; and their orders were to remain
non-antagonistic to the British. They were outnumbered by almost ten to
one. So why didn't they lay down their arms when ordered to do so?
"Because," says constitutional scholar Edwin Vieira,
"free men with a duty to keep and bear arms never willingly lay
down their arms. And at Lexington, none of them did." The heroic
militia Captain John Parker warned his men, "if they mean to have
a war let it begin here." And begin it did.
Importance of
the State Militias
With his newest book,The
Sword and Sovereignty, Edwin Vieira, Jr., has given us a
magisterial work that meticulously documents the history of the early
American Militias and why similar units must be revitalized today if we
are to adequately confront our disintegration as a society and restore
the republic that the Founders gave us. It is a book that will
profoundly shock 98 percent of Americans. It is so overpowering in its
legal logic and constitutional veracity that the intellectuality of
Cicero and Plutarch comes to mind as one reads the prose. It is not a
book that can be read lightly; it demands a tolerance for legal thought
and abstract conceptualization.
But for those "men of the mind" who understand the importance
of ideas in the unfolding of history, the effort will be most
rewarding. You will be shown an entirely new way of seeing things
regarding guns, militia, the Second Amendment, homeland security, how
they intertwine, and how they have been grossly misrepresented by
quisling, pseudo-experts of the establishment.For the first 125 years
of our history, the "Militia of the several States" was a
highly honored institution that played a vital role in preserving the
concept of federalism upon which our system of freedom depends. This
ended with the Militia Act of 1903, which shifted the "Militia of
the several States" into National Guard units under the auspices
of the national military. State and local control was eliminated.
In addition, as Vieira tells us,
over the past century decades "of disuse, misuse, and abuse have
so thoroughly muddled the meaning of 'Militia' in contemporary American
political discourse that the word is hardly ever encountered except as
invective, usually well-freighted with vituperative adjectives such as
'extremist' and 'violent', broadcast by the enemies of constitutional
government (and their dupes and other 'useful idiots') for the purpose
of intimidating into silence the people they intend to oppress as soon
as the vast majority of Americans has been thoroughly disarmed through
one form of 'gun control' or another."
Anybody today with a modicum of
brains can see that our nation is being transformed into a
"first-class police state." Homeland Security and
Washington's outrageous "Patriot Acts" are Alice in
Wonderland institutions that have taken us a giant step down the path
to Orwell's nightmare. Our military-industrial complex grows
exponentially. The Federal Government has become a Godzilla of ugliness
and menace. Our Congressmen are Machiavellian schemers wallowing in
sophistic mazes and treason to truth.
Vieira's answer to this pernicious evolution is
startling. As with all big thinkers in history, he asks us (like Steve
Jobs did to his comrades at Apple) to "Think Different!" He
maintains that America cannot be saved unless she revitalizes her
original concept of the "Militia of the several States."
The Sword and Sovereignty explains - in
1,945 pages of text and 305 pages of appendixes, tables, and notes -
why this must be done and how to constitutionally do it. Magisterial
scholarship is putting it mildly.
History and
Restoration of the Militias
The book explores the legal history
of the pre-constitutional Militia statutes of colonial times to
demonstrate that armed and well-regulated Militias formed on the state
level are what the Founders intended for the provision of
"homeland security." The monstrosity of today's centralized
Homeland Security Department in Washington is not needed; a revival of
the "Militia of the several States" and unequivocal
acknowledgement of the people's right to bear arms will give us everything
we require. This will decentralize "security" in the country
and help greatly to check the ominous peril of the military-industrial
complex.
Many Americans will perceive this as a quixotic attempt
to turn back the clock and revive a hopeless anachronism that prevailed
in the era of flintlock muskets and tri-cornered caps. Not so. Vieira
demonstrates his points legally with the same overpowering logic that
Ludwig von Mises puts forth economically in Human
Action.
Mises was relentless in rational destructions of the socialists'
sinister fallacies. So too is Vieira in his dismantling of the
arguments of today's collectivist control freaks.After he traces the
legal history of pre-constitutional Militia and gun statutes, he then
lays out seventeen fundamental principles (in seventeen chapters) to
define how the constitutional structure and service of a revitalized
"Militia of the several States" would be validated. When one
is done reading these seventeen chapters, he sees clearly that a revitalization
of the state Militias is constitutionally legitimate and workable in
the modern day. Whether or not they can be revived is, of course, an
open question. There is huge opposition in all establishment schools,
bureaucracies, and courts to such a radical restructuring of society's
power relationships. But Vieira demonstrates in compelling fashion why
and how it can be done if Americans still have the will.
One of the most profound parts of
the book is its explanation in Chapter One of the present day fallacy
of "judicial supremacy," showing how the Supreme Court is not
the ultimate judge of "what the law is." Congress stands
above the Court and may stipulate how the Judges are to interpret the
laws. But most importantly, the People stand above Congress, for they
are the creators of Congress via the Constitution. WE THE PEOPLE rule
in America, not congressional despots and judicial oligarchs.
As the famous
eighteenth century jurist, Sir William Blackstone, observed in
Commentaries on the Laws of England, "whenever
a question arises between the society at large and any magistrate
vested with powers originally delegated by that society, it must be
decided by the voice of the society itself: there is not upon earth any
other tribunal to resort to."Thus the salvation of America must
come with reassertion of the citizens' fundamental right to decide the
ultimate issues of their lives. Through political techniques such as
nullification on the part of juries and state governments the
overweening excesses of today's Federal Government and its bureaucratic
thugs can be brought to heel.
It is important to understand that Vieira is NOT
proposing "private" Militias, the likes of which we have seen
in recent years from racial supremacy groups and neo-Nazi extremists.
What Vieira is proposing is the revitalization of governmentally created and
legitimized Militia units among the states that our
Constitution calls irrevocably for. These will be legislated and
regulated by the state governments. They will be official government
bodies in all the towns and cities of the land, not rogue factions that
operate from wilderness hideouts. The leftist establishment media will,
no doubt, attempt to portray Vieira's plan as the promotion of
wilderness wackos reveling in burning crosses and white sheets; but
hopefully learned Americans will recognize such smear tactics as the
inexcusable liberal vacuity that it is.
Benefits of
Militia Restoration
There are so
many benefits to such a revitalization. As Vieira writes, "Today,
at every level of the federal system, America is woefully unprepared to
deal effectively with hurricanes, tornados, floods, earthquakes, and
other natural disasters; with major industrial accidents, such as
leakages from offshore oil-drilling rigs or meltdowns of nuclear power
plants; with epidemics and pandemics; with crop failures and possibly
attendant famines; with invasions through the
Volkerwanderung of illegal immigration; with economic breakdowns, and in
particular a collapse of this country's monetary and banking systems;
and with the myriad threats posed by
real terrorism. '[W]ell regulated Militia', however, not
only could deal with the consequences of such events, but also could
forefend many of them."In addition, the Militia can be used to
investigate the constitutionality of the laws that they execute, they
can supervise honest elections, they can help to repel invasions, they
can help local police, they can be very instrumental in defeating the
machinations of globalism, etc.
Another crucial point to grasp is
that the revitalized Militia will not be in anyway a part of the
regular military, nor will they be under the thumb of Congress. This is
the way the Constitution established them in the beginning, and this is
the way they must be revived. They will be institutions of unity and
defense at the state government level. Their revival will begin the
vital process of restoring "federalism."
Owning Guns Not
Enough
Vieira explains that the individual right to bear arms
as a defense against tyranny will not suffice in and of itself.
"For, confronted by usurpers and tyrants deploying 'standing
armies' and para-militarized
police forces, or by hordes of foreign invaders, armed individuals in
isolation or in small groups would likely prove feckless."In other
words, just the right to bear arms is not enough. What is necessary is
the establishment of collective, coordinated state Militias. This is
why the Second Amendment says, "A
well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed."The pre-constitutional colonial and state statutes
during the 150 years leading up to 1787, demonstrate irrefutably that
Militias organized on the state and local levels were held by the
patriots of the era to be vital for the defense of freedom and order in
the republic. The modern day is no different; in fact, such
institutions are even more vital. Upon this right of individual and
local self-defense, there can be no compromise.
Most libertarians and conservatives
are aware of the recent testimony in front of Congress by Suzanna Hupp
regarding our right to bear arms. She was one of the victims of the
tragic Luby's massacre in Killeen, Texas in 1991 and lost both her
parents to the gun-toting madman. She testified to our Washington
solons that if she had been allowed to carry the gun she owned in her
purse, she would have been able to kill the madman and would have saved
numerous lives including her parents.
Then she topped off her heroic
testimony with these searing words as she stared Senator Charles
Schumer and his imperious cronies right in the eyes: "I am sitting
here getting more and more fed up with all of this talk about these
pieces of machinery having no legitimate sporting purpose, no
legitimate hunting purpose. People, that is not the point of the Second
Amendment. The Second Amendment is not about duck hunting....It is
about our rights, all of our rights to be able to protect ourselves
from all of you guys up there."
How to Bring
About the Revitalization
The Militias
of early America in both pre and post Constitution eras were basically
compulsory institutions.
The states mandated that all able-bodied men were subject to membership
and duty. In other words the states had the right to impress citizens
into the Militia. This, of course, will not be acceptable to the
libertarian community of the modern day. So if the Militias are to be
revived, they will have to be voluntarily joined as Independent Militia
Companies formed by the state governments. And this is the procedure
that Vieira advocates. Independent Militia Companies must spring up
under the auspices of the state governments via volunteers.Vieira goes
into detail, however, explaining how the early American viewpoint was
that membership in the Militias had to be compulsory, and that
eventually they should be formed into such units as Americans are
educated in this upcoming century toward their duties as well as
their rights
in maintaining
a free republic. He makes a very passionate case for regaining the
"all for one and one for all" spirit that animated early
Americans' willingness to tolerate compulsory membership in their local
Militias. Being a political libertarian, I would disagree on this point
and rely permanently on voluntary units as the undergirding structure
to revitalization. The Militias might not work as efficiently, and
their memberships might not be spread as evenly among all citizens, but
they will be a lot safer units of government under volunteer recruitment
policies.The Founders understood the power lusting nature of man and
the necessity for citizens to be armed and organized at all times as
protection from their rulers. Suzanna Hupp understands this. Edwin
Vieira understands it. And now we as a people must come to realize it.
Our right to bear arms has nothing to do with duck hunting. State
Militias have nothing to do with wilderness wackos.
"The struggle that has been thrust upon Americans," writes
Vieira, "is not one to
preserve the uniquely
American way of life, but to
restore it." The plague of factions and collectivist
usurpers have decimated the republic. "Today, the true America
exists only as fleeting, dissipating shadows of her former self."
The Sword and Sovereignty's message will go
a long way toward restoring that resplendent America we lost. It is a
profoundly patriotic work of powerful impact that can direct our
intelligentsia toward a rediscovery of our real roots. Any thinking man
or woman today who fears for America's survival needs to tackle this
book. It is available in CD format at
.
Nelson Hultberg
* February 10 2013
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Nelson
Hultberg is a freelance writer in Dallas, Texas and the Director of
Americans for a Free Republic www.afr.org. His articles have appeared
in such publications as the
Dallas Morning
News, The American Conservative, Insight, The Freeman, and
Liberty, as well as on numerous Internet sites such as The
Daily Bell, Financial Sense, and Safe Haven. He is also the author of
The Golden
Mean: Libertarian Politics, Conservative Values to be released in March of 2013. Email him at: nelshultberg@aol.com
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