Edward I Quotes

While the militia had very few arms, Van Rensselaer had no military training and commanded a critical army because of his political connections—common at the time. After he botched the Battle of Queenston Heights he returned to politics but his military failure dogged him for the rest of his career. The quotation is yet another that illustrated the myth of all Americans armed and ready to fight for the nation. There was no gun culture then, and guns were expensive and a minority of Americans owned them. In this case less than 20 percent of the American militia owned a gun. And Congress would just not at the time spend the money for weapons.

This quotation is referred to by these who debunk the myth that everyone was armed in early America. This was so on the frontier where there were potential Indian hostilities but in the rest of the country guns were not a part of everyday life or the culture. Even hunting was not that common an activity as raising cattle and farming was a much more reliable method of assuring a good food supply. The quotation is also often referred to in discussions regarding preparedness. This was an early example where the effect of peace and quiet was to diminish government budgetary commitment to military preparedness. . Floyd was very modern in his economic views, so much so that he, even as a Southern politician, opposed slavery on the grounds that it was economically inefficient and the South would never develop industrially if it had no incentive, as existed in the North and England, to reduce the amount of labor required for economic opportunity. He was right on that point as well.

In the early 18th century, things were very unsettled between Scotland & England with the succession of both countries in question. The result was the famous union of the two countries in 1707. At the time the Scottish Parliament wanted to intimidate the English as well as to be able to fend off English troops if things did not go well. The clause has much contemporary importance because it shows what a nation would do that wanted every man armed against powers which might restrict their freedom. The American Founding Fathers at the Constitutional Convention knew about this law. They even adopted other ideas from this law--{615975}. If the Founders had wanted every man armed as some modern gun control opponents maintain, they were brilliant drafters and would doubtless have written something like this. It supports the view that what was intended was not an armed nation but a nation where the states could organize “well ordered militias” and the Second Amendment resulted.

At the time, English ordinary citizens were not allowed to have firearms, but exception was made for the colonists. “Stands” were y-shaped sticks that the gun would rest on as the weight was about 20 pounds.

Note the phrase “well regulated militia.” This is the exact same phrase which the Founding Fathers chose to use in the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights over a decade later. And in this amendment the right to bear arms is provided for the “well regulated militia” and not for individuals as the Supreme Court has ruled many times. This quotation shows that the phrase was not just drafted by the founders, but had a clear and established meaning of which they were aware. Many people think that the phrase did not have a known meaning at the time but this quotation shows differently as the Constitutions of all the States were available to and studied by the Congress and most educated people.

This is yet another quotation demonstrating that the image of early America as a gun culture where most men were armed, skilled with those arms, and ready to come to the defense of the country. It turns out that none of the three corresponded to any historical reality for most Americans.

This view tends to be contrary to those gun control opponents who believe that dictatorial rulers always want to disarm a population. Historically that has occurred but more often, dictators arm their populations to accomplish their aggressive aims.

One of the major problems in the Palestinian Territory is that a very large proportion of the population is armed with automatic assault weapons. Minor disputes end up with deadly killings and political disputes often result in major shootouts. He argues that it is the government alone that should have the monopoly on weapons and arms.

This required much of the population to maintain and bear arms. Another part of the law required the arms-bearers to be at the service of the king and as such was the king's militia.

Note that he would require a level of education for a citizen to possess weapons. In America it has been suggested that gun training be required as a condition, but the notion of general education is quite different. He was executed for rebellion at age 29. However, a number of his followers went on to leadership positions in the reforms that followed.

This is a very clear statement of a theory offered by some gun advocates. Opponents observe that if this were true, the parts of the country that had the highest gun ownership would have the lowest gun deaths and crime in general, but that is not true. Obversely, when some jurisdictions like Florida have made guns easier to obtain, the crime rate has not increased as some gun opponents would predict.

This quotation is often provided by historians studying the gun culture of America. Even conservatives like Ames did not see a gun or an armed citizenry as important to America’s survival or well being. Contrary to popular belief, even the State Militias’ whose rights to bear arms was written into the Second Amendment did not bother to do so. In 1803 only three state militias had rifle companies. Firearms of the time were expensive, difficult to maintain, and hard to use. Unless one needed them for defense, it was too much of a bother. Even in the aftermath of the War of 1812 only 30% of Massachusetts adult men owned guns; by 1839, the rate was below 10%. It was on the frontier where guns were popular and necessary. See {613080}.

This quotation shows that the dissent leading to the American Revolution did not emerge suddenly in 1776 after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Dissent, sedition and even violence was documented here in 1774. Salem at the time was the second largest port in the colony and the customs tax collectors—Loyalist Americans—were run out of Salem.