Militia
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
The forces available for the defence of a state or of the nation, consisting of citizens called into military service for the time being.
— The constitution of the United States provides, on this subject, that congress shall have power to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions;
— to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as maybe employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia, according to the discipline prescribed by congress.
The various states have their respective laws for the organization and government of their respective militia; and congress has legislated comprehensively on the subject in title 16 of the revised statutes.