A Review of Edwin Vieira’s The Sword and Sovereignty
Nelson Hultberg
February 15, 2013
On April 19, 1775, the battles of Lexington and Concord on the outskirts of Boston ignited the conflict that led to the most momentous political event of man's history – the Declaration of Independence and the birth of America. In the early morning hours of that day, a command of British troops was dispatched from Boston to search out and confiscate stores of militia weapons and supplies at Concord. On the way they confronted a small and unimposing band of armed American militia at Lexington. The British Major John Pitcairn shouted out, "Ye villains, ye Rebels, disperse; damn you, disperse! Lay down your arms!"
The American militia were under the command of Captain, John Parker; and their orders were to remain non-antagonistic to the British. They were outnumbered by almost ten to one. So why didn't they lay down their arms when ordered to do so? "Because," says constitutional scholar Edwin Vieira, "free men with a duty to keep and bear arms never willingly lay down their arms. And at Lexington, none of them did." The heroic militia Captain John Parker warned his men, "if they mean to have a war let it begin here." And begin it did.
Importance of the State Militias
With his newest book, The Sword and Sovereignty, Edwin Vieira, Jr., has given us a magisterial work that meticulously documents the history of the early American militias and why similar units must be revitalized today if we are to adequately confront our disintegration as a society and restore the republic that the Founders gave us. It is a book that will profoundly shock 98 percent of Americans. It is so overpowering in its legal logic and constitutional veracity that the intellectuality of Cicero and Plutarch comes to mind as one reads the prose. It is not a book that can be read lightly; it demands a tolerance for legal thought and abstract conceptualization. But for those "men of the mind" who understand the importance of ideas in the unfolding of history, the effort will be most rewarding. You will be shown an entirely new way of seeing things regarding guns, militia, the Second Amendment, homeland security, how they intertwine, and how they have been grossly misrepresented by quisling, pseudo-experts of the establishment.
For the first 125 years of our history, the "Militia of the several States" was a highly honored institution that played a vital role in preserving the concept of federalism upon which our system of freedom depends. This ended with the Militia Act of 1903, which shifted the "Militia of the several States" into National Guard units under the auspices of the national military. State and local control was eliminated.
In addition, as Vieira tells us, over the past century decades “of disuse, misuse, and abuse have so thoroughly muddled the meaning of 'Militia' in contemporary American political discourse that the word is hardly ever encountered except as invective, usually well-freighted with vituperative adjectives such as 'extremist' and 'violent', broadcast by the enemies of constitutional government (and their dupes and other 'useful idiots') for the purpose of intimidating into silence the people they intend to oppress as soon as the vast majority of Americans has been thoroughly disarmed through one form of 'gun control' or another."
Anybody today with a modicum of brains can see that our nation is being transformed into a "first-class police state." Homeland Security and Washington's outrageous "Patriot Acts" are Alice in Wonderland institutions that have taken us a giant step down the path to Orwell's nightmare. Our military-industrial complex grows exponentially. The Federal Government has become a Godzilla of ugliness and menace. Our Congressmen are Machiavellian schemers wallowing in sophistic mazes and treason to truth.
Vieira's answer to this pernicious evolution is startling. As with all big thinkers in history, he asks us (like Steve Jobs did to his comrades at Apple) to "Think Different!" He maintains that America cannot be saved unless she revitalizes her original concept of the "Militia of the several States." The Sword and Sovereignty explains – in 1,945 pages of text and 305 pages of appendixes, tables, and notes – why this must be done and how to constitutionally do it. Magisterial scholarship is putting it mildly.
History and Restoration of the Militias
The book explores the legal history of the pre-constitutional Militia statutes of colonial times to demonstrate that armed and well-regulated Militias formed on the state level are what the Founders intended for the provision of "homeland security." The monstrosity of today's centralized Homeland Security Department in Washington is not needed; a revival of the "Militia of the several States" and unequivocal acknowledgement of the people's right to bear arms will give us everything we require. This will decentralize "security" in the country and help greatly to check the ominous peril of the military-industrial complex. READ MORE>>
