Madison’s Militia: The Hidden History of the Second Amendment

Bogus (Buckley), a law professor at Roger Williams University, investigates why James Madison wrote the first draft of the Second Amendment in this provocative and persuasive history. Contending that the primary reason for the amendment was to assure Southern whites they would be able to maintain armed local militias to help prevent slave rebellions, Bogus traces the history of militias in America and claims that the 1739 Stono Rebellion in South Carolina and other insurrections left white Southerners “petrified.” Bogus also cites the poor performance of militias during the Revolutionary War as proof that Madison and America’s other founders “knew that militiamen would be unable to go toe to toe with professional soldiers.” On the other hand, Bogus argues, as a Virginian and owner of some 100 slaves, Madison understood the importance of protecting slaveholders and controlling the enslaved population if the Southern economy was to survive. After the War of 1812, Bogus notes, then-president Madison recommended that Congress “maintain ‘an adequate regular force’ in peacetime.” Careful analysis of the ratification process and Madison’s political career buttress Bogus’s thesis, even if his case is largely circumstantial. Still, this is a vital reconsideration of a contentious constitutional amendment. (Mar.)