WEBVTT 00:00:00.570 --> 00:00:03.000 The Third Amendment to the Constitution 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:07.670 directly addressed Britain's Quartering Act of 1774. 00:00:07.670 --> 00:00:11.230 It's an Amendment which today seems almost an afterthought. 00:00:11.230 --> 00:00:13.200 Not so with the Second Amendment. 00:00:26.030 --> 00:00:27.800 (narrator) The notion of a militia, 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:31.470 of a citizen army, goes back more than 1,000 years 00:00:31.470 --> 00:00:35.900 to England's ninth-century king, Alfred the Great. 00:00:35.900 --> 00:00:39.530 800 years later, 17th-century American colonists 00:00:39.530 --> 00:00:42.700 were forced to reinvent the militia 00:00:42.700 --> 00:00:44.900 not only to protect their settlements and farms 00:00:44.900 --> 00:00:46.270 from Indian raids 00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:50.430 but to war against Native American tribes when necessary. 00:00:50.430 --> 00:00:52.730 Indeed, Massachusetts Bay Colony 00:00:52.730 --> 00:00:57.070 established the first organized militia in 1636. 00:00:57.070 --> 00:01:01.100 Eventually, all the colonies followed suit. 00:01:01.100 --> 00:01:03.330 During the 18th century, 00:01:03.330 --> 00:01:05.930 militia were raised to fight the Spanish and French 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:09.670 in Queen Anne's War and King George's War. 00:01:09.670 --> 00:01:13.170 Then, from 1756 to 1763, 00:01:13.170 --> 00:01:17.030 American militiamen fought alongside English soldiers 00:01:17.030 --> 00:01:19.970 in the French and Indian War. 00:01:19.970 --> 00:01:22.170 But the American militia reached its pinnacle 00:01:22.170 --> 00:01:25.430 during the Revolutionary War. 00:01:25.430 --> 00:01:27.370 After the French and Indian War, 00:01:27.370 --> 00:01:30.570 tensions between Britain and her North American colonies 00:01:30.570 --> 00:01:32.730 escalated rapidly. 00:01:32.730 --> 00:01:35.030 Samuel Adams' Sons of Liberty, 00:01:35.030 --> 00:01:38.900 originally founded to protest the Stamp Act of 1765, 00:01:38.900 --> 00:01:41.200 changed tactics and incited mobs 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:44.800 to attack customs inspectors and tax collectors. 00:01:44.800 --> 00:01:48.330 In New York and Boston, they erected Liberty Poles 00:01:48.330 --> 00:01:51.400 as symbols of their protests. 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:56.070 In almost game-like fashion, British troops tore them down. 00:01:56.070 --> 00:02:01.700 Then on March 5, 1770, these brawls turned deadly. 00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:03.700 An angry mob looking for trouble 00:02:03.700 --> 00:02:07.770 descended upon troops guarding the customshouse in Boston. 00:02:07.770 --> 00:02:10.200 The citizens threw oyster shells and sticks 00:02:10.200 --> 00:02:13.470 at the nervous troops, daring them to fire. 00:02:13.470 --> 00:02:15.430 The scared soldiers disobeyed orders 00:02:15.430 --> 00:02:18.470 and fired unexpectedly into the crowd. 00:02:18.470 --> 00:02:21.330 By the time a British officer stopped the shooting, 00:02:21.330 --> 00:02:23.930 five Americans were dead. 00:02:23.930 --> 00:02:25.970 Paul Revere immortalized the event 00:02:25.970 --> 00:02:30.270 in his famous woodcut, The Boston Massacre. 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:35.000 By now, America and Britain were headed irrevocably toward war. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:38.930 It was only a question of when. 00:02:38.930 --> 00:02:40.770 It was fitting that Massachusetts, 00:02:40.770 --> 00:02:42.700 home of the first colonial militia, 00:02:42.700 --> 00:02:46.030 would be where the Revolutionary War began. 00:02:46.030 --> 00:02:50.970 Here in September 1774, the townspeople of Concord 00:02:50.970 --> 00:02:53.830 formed the first minutemen company. 00:02:53.830 --> 00:02:55.400 The minutemen were charged 00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:59.070 to stand at a minute's warning in case of alarm. 00:02:59.070 --> 00:03:00.600 Other towns followed suit, 00:03:00.600 --> 00:03:03.500 and very soon there were several companies of men 00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:08.170 who vowed to be ready to fight at a minute's notice. 00:03:08.170 --> 00:03:11.100 Though these companies had their own officers and men, 00:03:11.100 --> 00:03:14.800 they were still part of the Massachusetts militia. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:17.800 Then on April 19, 1775, 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:22.130 these brave farmers and townsmen got the call. 00:03:22.130 --> 00:03:24.500 British troops were marching towards Concord 00:03:24.500 --> 00:03:29.130 to disarm the Sons of Liberty and take away their rifles. 00:03:29.130 --> 00:03:30.700 On that spring morning, 00:03:30.700 --> 00:03:33.170 70 American minutemen answered the call 00:03:33.170 --> 00:03:34.530 and gathered at Lexington 00:03:34.530 --> 00:03:38.030 to meet British troops marching from Boston. 00:03:38.030 --> 00:03:41.700 Greatly outnumbered, the Americans were quickly routed. 00:03:41.700 --> 00:03:45.470 Ten colonists were killed and nine wounded. 00:03:45.470 --> 00:03:49.630 So began the first battle of the American Revolutionary War, 00:03:49.630 --> 00:03:50.800 a battle that continued 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:51.830 at Concord, 00:03:51.830 --> 00:03:54.200 where nearly 1000 militia men 00:03:54.200 --> 00:03:57.070 met British soldiers. 00:03:57.070 --> 00:03:58.500 Fighting Indian-style, 00:03:58.500 --> 00:04:02.500 the Americans pursued the British back to Boston. 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:04.070 By the time the fighting ended, 00:04:04.070 --> 00:04:08.230 273 British troops and 95 Americans 00:04:08.230 --> 00:04:14.430 had died, and the war had begun in earnest. 00:04:14.430 --> 00:04:16.000 For the next six years, 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.170 the state's militia and the American army 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:22.270 battled British troops to final victory at Yorktown. 00:04:22.270 --> 00:04:24.500 The war was over. 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:26.270 But the framers of the Constitution 00:04:26.270 --> 00:04:31.730 understood that the necessity for an army and militia was not. 00:04:31.730 --> 00:04:34.530 As a result, the Second Amendment of the Constitution 00:04:34.530 --> 00:04:36.300 addressed this critical need 00:04:36.300 --> 00:04:39.300 that had been a part of settlement in North America 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:43.370 since the founding of the first colonies. 00:04:43.370 --> 00:04:45.570 Second Amendment: 00:04:45.570 --> 00:04:47.800 "A well-regulated militia, 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:51.000 "being necessary to the security of a free state, 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:54.570 "the right of the people to keep and bear arms 00:04:54.570 --> 00:04:58.100 shall not be infringed." 00:04:58.100 --> 00:05:00.770 (narrator) Almost immediately, the new congress, 00:05:00.770 --> 00:05:03.470 set up by the Constitution of the United States, 00:05:03.470 --> 00:05:05.470 took up the matter of the militia 00:05:05.470 --> 00:05:08.430 in the Militia Act of 1792. 00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:12.370 This was a direct result of the former congress' slow reaction 00:05:12.370 --> 00:05:16.400 to Shays' Rebellion in 1786. 00:05:16.400 --> 00:05:18.530 The act of 1792 00:05:18.530 --> 00:05:22.170 defined the role of the militia in federal policy. 00:05:22.170 --> 00:05:24.200 The president could call out the militia 00:05:24.200 --> 00:05:27.030 in times of national emergency. 00:05:27.030 --> 00:05:30.730 All able-bodied men aged 18 to 45 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:33.770 were required to serve in the militia. 00:05:33.770 --> 00:05:35.670 They had to provide their own arms 00:05:35.670 --> 00:05:38.370 and participate in annual musters. 00:05:38.370 --> 00:05:41.470 The act also called for these militias to be organized 00:05:41.470 --> 00:05:43.770 in standard divisions, brigades, 00:05:43.770 --> 00:05:46.830 regiments, battalions, and companies. 00:05:46.830 --> 00:05:49.130 This act and the Second Amendment 00:05:49.130 --> 00:05:51.530 were largely the result of the founders' fear 00:05:51.530 --> 00:05:53.270 of a large standing army 00:05:53.270 --> 00:05:59.230 that could become a tool for tyrannical abuse of power. 00:05:59.230 --> 00:06:01.100 Throughout the 19th century, 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:04.200 this approach served the nation well. 00:06:04.200 --> 00:06:06.070 The regular army remained, 00:06:06.070 --> 00:06:10.100 but the militia provided most of the troops in the War of 1812, 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:12.070 the Mexican-American War, 00:06:12.070 --> 00:06:14.770 during the early stages of the Civil War, 00:06:14.770 --> 00:06:17.530 and the Spanish-American War. 00:06:17.530 --> 00:06:22.430 Then in 1903, the Dick Act replaced the 1792 Militia Act 00:06:22.430 --> 00:06:24.230 and created the National Guard 00:06:24.230 --> 00:06:28.200 as the army's primary organized reserve. 00:06:28.200 --> 00:06:30.730 In the second half of the 20th century, 00:06:30.730 --> 00:06:33.270 a vigorous debate began over the framers' intent 00:06:33.270 --> 00:06:35.200 for the Second Amendment. 00:06:35.200 --> 00:06:38.170 Some Americans thought the Second Amendment irrelevant 00:06:38.170 --> 00:06:42.500 in a country where there was no longer a hostile frontier, 00:06:42.500 --> 00:06:46.400 that vast numbers of handguns, rifles, and even assault rifles 00:06:46.400 --> 00:06:49.470 that existed in America's cities, towns, and farms 00:06:49.470 --> 00:06:53.470 were a threat to the safety and welfare of its citizens. 00:06:53.470 --> 00:06:56.800 Others, such as the National Rifle Association, 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:00.070 believed that this right was one of the most fundamental 00:07:00.070 --> 00:07:03.200 to the preservation of freedom and democracy. 00:07:03.200 --> 00:07:05.970 The NRA has spent millions annually, 00:07:05.970 --> 00:07:07.630 lobbying members of Congress 00:07:07.630 --> 00:07:12.330 to protect the right of all Americans to keep and bear arms. 00:07:12.330 --> 00:07:13.630 And in some states, 00:07:13.630 --> 00:07:16.400 citizens created their own private militias, 00:07:16.400 --> 00:07:19.730 training as weekend soldiers to protect their homes and families 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:22.800 not necessarily from an external enemy, 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:25.370 but the government itself. 00:07:25.370 --> 00:07:27.930 The U.S. Supreme Court could easily end the debate, 00:07:27.930 --> 00:07:30.770 but has made only one decision. 00:07:30.770 --> 00:07:35.600 Yet the court's ruling in the 1939 case, U.S. v. Miller, 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:37.770 which dealt with the interstate transport 00:07:37.770 --> 00:07:42.870 of a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, was ambiguous. 00:07:42.870 --> 00:07:45.430 Justice McReynolds, writing for the court, 00:07:45.430 --> 00:07:46.630 seemed to be saying 00:07:46.630 --> 00:07:49.330 that the right of the individual to bear arms 00:07:49.330 --> 00:07:53.000 was limited to the arms a militia might have, 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:54.600 yet at the same time, 00:07:54.600 --> 00:07:57.500 he seemed to be saying that the Amendment did not guarantee 00:07:57.500 --> 00:08:01.570 the right to possess firearms to individuals. 00:08:01.570 --> 00:08:04.630 Since then, the Supreme Court has ducked the issue 00:08:04.630 --> 00:08:08.170 of the rights of a gun-toting citizenry. 00:08:08.170 --> 00:08:10.370 However, in Dallas, Texas, 00:08:10.370 --> 00:08:13.370 in the 2001 case of U.S. versus Emerson, 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:15.470 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals 00:08:15.470 --> 00:08:17.870 delivered an opinion that the Second Amendment 00:08:17.870 --> 00:08:20.000 does guarantee individuals, 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:21.630 not just members of the militias, 00:08:21.630 --> 00:08:25.330 the right to possess arms. 00:08:25.330 --> 00:08:29.470 In the 21st century this debate continues.