15. Hamilton wrote an essay defining a “well-regulated militia” in Federalist 29
On January 9, 1788, Alexander Hamilton published Federalist 29, under the usual pseudonym of Publius. It appeared in The Independent Journal, and it was out of sequence. By then Federalist 36 had already appeared in print. Why Federalist 29 was out of sequence is unknown, but it dealt on a subject which had always been in the hands of the states, even when those states had been British colonies. Titled Concerning the Militia, Hamilton presented his thoughts about what a well-regulated militia should be. He argued for small, well-trained, militia units maintained by the individual states, but subject to the call of the other states when necessary. Such necessities could include insurrections, foreign attacks, and other crises of an undefined character. To Hamilton, a well-regulated militia included small uniformed units, with each state providing its own units.
“Little more can be reasonably aimed at, with respect to the people at large, than to have them properly armed and equipped; and in order to see that this be not neglected, it will be necessary to assemble them once or twice in the course of the year”, Hamilton wrote. Hamilton argued the state militias served as a check on government tyranny. The anti-federalists disagreed, arguing they could easily be used by the federal government to impose unwanted laws. Hamilton responded in writing, “Wherein in the name of common sense, are our fears to end if we may not trust our sons, our brothers, our neighbors, our fellow citizens?” The term “well-regulated militia’ later appeared in the Second Amendment, as a prelude to the right to bear arms. It has been a point of contention between Second Amendment supporters and gun control activists for decades.