An Armed Citizenry.

In 1622 the Virginia House of Burgesses legislated that all men "go under Arms." Likewise in 1628 the Massachusetts Bay charter allowed for the formation of a colonial militia: it would exist "to incounter, expulse, repell and resist by force of arms, as well by sea as by lands." Like the earlier settlements at Jamestown, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, and elsewhere (except Pennsylvania due to Quaker pacifism), the other provinces acted upon English precedent in establishing militias. Men sent over to give military protection such as John Smith in Jamestown and Miles Standish in Plymouth were often veterans of English warfare. They were familiar with the English system of militia readiness and of necessity employed that system in the provinces. The ancient Anglo-Saxon tradition emphasized that every able-bodied adult male was obligated to render service if called upon. Though possibly an exaggerated account of...