The first groups of settlers from Britain — i.e., from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales — journeyed for a variety of reasons. Some went to America for financial opportunities: money could be made by selling animal fur, or by growing tobacco. Others arrived seeking religious freedom: in North America, they could organize their worship and live their faith as they pleased. A third reason for the relocation was political liberty: the thirteen British colonies had an atmosphere which tolerated diverse opinions and public debate. Finally, some came with ambitions of becoming political leaders: in the New World, ordinary people could be elected to town councils or colonial legislatures, something rarely possible in Britain.
Society in North America, specifically in the regions that would become the United States, was built by ideas and cultures from many nations: Germany, France, Holland, etc. But the early years, and some of the most formative influences, came from the English, as historians Allan Millett and Peter Maslowski writes:
Crossing the Atlantic during the seventeenth century was a perilous voyage, entailing weeks or months of cramped quarters, inadequate food, and unsanitary conditions. Yet in the late 1500s Englishmen had begun to hazard the venture, and in 1607 they planted their first permanent settlement on the North American continent at Jamestown. By the early 1730s, thirteen separate colonies hugged the seaboard. Although great diversity prevailed among the colonies, most colonists shared a common English heritage and clung to it tenaciously. Their religious attitudes, economic views, political thoughts, and military ideals and institutions were all grounded in English history. In no aspect of colonial life was this heritage more important than in regard to military matters. The colonists' most revered military institution (the militia) and their most cherished military tradition (fear of a standing army) both came from England.
The difference between the ‘militia’ and the ‘standing army’ shaped American history for several centuries. The ‘militia’ is a group formed of ordinary people — farmers, lawyers, teachers, doctors, etc. — who had some basic military training and could be called upon when needed. The men in the militia weren’t full-time soldiers, and spent their weekdays at their normal jobs. Only in cases of emergency were they called upon to meet and go into action.
By contrast, the ‘standing army’ is a group of full-time professional soldiers, who usually wear uniforms, don’t have other employment or jobs, and live in some type of army housing.
The settlers from England brought with them a distrust of ‘standing armies’ and a preference for ‘militia’ units. They passed this disposition on to the other settlers in North America. The British suspicion of standing armies arose from the fact that, when a full-sized trained and equipped army is not usefully occupied, government leaders can use it to harass ordinary people.
The appropriate use of an army is for it to fight with other armies from other countries. But the English government had used the army to intimate civilians into paying excessive taxes, silencing their political opinions, and preventing diverse forms of religious worship. In summary, the army was a ‘muscle’ or ‘enforcer’ for the whims of the King or the Parliament. Instead of protecting the British people, the army was being used to intimidate the British people. So the attitude developed among the British: they didn’t really like the army, and prefered to have a militia.
The events that created this attitude in England were followed by events in America that reinforced the attitude. British soldiers in North America were supposed to be there to protect the colonists who’d settled there; but the colonists were capable of defending themselves, as they did on several occasions, and didn’t need the British army. But the British government placed extra taxes on the settlers to pay for the army to be there. So the settlers were forced to pay for an army they didn’t need.
It got worse. The British soldiers were used, in America as in England, to harass the local population.
These circumstances merely reinforced the anti-army attitude which the settlers brought with them from England.
So, the settlers turned to the idea of the ‘militia’ — which turned out to be less costly, to be a more effective way of defending themselves, and to be less of a danger to the rights and freedoms of the settlers.
The American militia grew to be not only a powerful fighting force, but also a part of the American culture and American mentality. At that time, as at the present time, a large percentage of Americans had a rifle or other firearm at home anyway. Men and women were familiar with rifles, knew how to use them, and used them on a regular basis to provide food for their families. American villages had a communal spirit: neighbors helped each other with barnraising and harvesting, with quilting and tanning, with butchering and fence building. So it was an obvious step that they should help each other in the defense of their villages, joining together to form a local militia.
The militia was a local institution, not commanded by officials in a far-away government center. The militia was self-organized, self-funded, and self-directed.
In this way, we can see one source in the American preference for local government over national government, for self-government over imposed power, and for private citizen initiatives instead of enforced tax-funded projects.
