Amelia Mary Earhart - Watchmen Of America

MEMORIAL DAY: In 1788, Ohio law required ALL men aged 16-50 to bear armsOhio MomentsSoldiers fined 50 cents for lack of weaponryOn July 25, 1788, the first Ohio law to establish and regulate a militia was published in Marietta. Itmandated all men between 16 and 50 perform military duty. They were required to arm themselveswith a musket and bayonet, a cartridge box, powder horn, one pound of powder and four pounds oflead. They also were ordered to drill every Sunday.By November, fines were implemented for those who failed to meet the requirements. For example, asoldier with no musket and bayonet had to pay 50 cents. Those who failed to show up for drill werefined 25 cents. Refusing guard duty cost them $1. And failure to serve in case of invasion meant acourt-martial.In 1791, the law changed the day of the weekly drills to Saturday. Those who drilled didn't have to goto church on Sunday. But those who attended church services - with their guns - were exempt fromdrill."To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike,especially when young, how to use them." (Richard Henry Lee, Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress,initiator of the Declaration of Independence, and member of the first Senate, which passed the Bill of Rights.)"The great object is that every man be armed . . . Everyone who is able may have a gun." (Patrick Henry, in theVirginia Convention on the ratification of the Constitution.)"The advantage of being armed . . . the Americans possess over the people of all other nations . . . Notwithstandingthe military establishments in the several Kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources willbear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." (James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, in hisFederalist Paper No. 46.)"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and beararms, shall not be infringed." (Second Amendment to the Constitution.)