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Sentence Outline

Thesis: The ideas behind the forming of militias was accepted in the past; however, in today’s society they are no longer relevant or necessary.

I. Introduction

A. Militias were created in the United States when it was creating its constitution to “maintain order and protect the union”) in place of a national military. (Dotts)

B. Militias today are associated with anti-government fringe groups who are self serving and isolated. (Parker)

II. Militias are groups of citizens who share the same ideologies and form the groups based on the premise of defending those ideologies from tyranny and oppression.

A. Citizens of the militia must display a capacity to act to maintain civic spirit and serve the Republic.

B. A militia takes up arms to defend its country, and its members are “citizen soldiers.”

(Harrington)

C. It is often maintained in the Republican cannon that citizens are eager to serve in the militia since they have a stake in sculpting the political nature of their own republic.

D. The tie-that-binds militia groups together and to the paramilitary groups that came before them are shared values and concerns”. (Machiavelli; Haider-Markel)

III. Militias were meant the to express the virtues of republican ideals. (O’Brian)

A. Jefferson viewed the militia as an important Saxon institution which provided a public space where citizens could demonstrate civic virtue by means of securing their liberty and independence.

B. Demophilus stated that the militia is the natural support of a government, founded on the authority of the people only. (“Philosophers”)

C. Unlike a standing army, the militia served both military and civil functions, and it was

democratically organized. (Dotts, 2015)

IV. Roots of the militia in the United States are founded on the ideology of Thomas Jefferson.

A. This ideology is founded in the Constitution.

B. Jefferson and others were against a standing army or federal military.

V. Purpose militias served in the past were based on a variety of notions about democracy and well being. (Dotts)

A. Concentrated power, religion, politics, and economics could possibly be dangerous and oppressive.

B. Self-reliance and the decentralization of government was needed to maintain republican ideology.

VI. The Federal government did not “officially” track militia groups within the United States.

A. They are tracked by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center. (Armstrong)

B. There are problems related to how these above organizations do there tracking.

1. The definitions of militias are imprecise and are not the same.

2. The organizations who track militias are biased.

3. Militias have fallen under the larger umbrella of the Patriot movement.

VII. Today militias are not relevant. (Johnston; Dott; Armstrong)

A. Jefferson’s republicanism is contradicting and inaccurate.

B. The concept of militias have been taken over by local, state, and federal entities.

C. Many militias no longer promote civic virtue.

D. The concept of militia has moved from the communal to the individual (Dotts)

VIII. However, some citizens view militias as necessary to maintain the republican ideal.

A. The militia are as much the representatives of the citizens, when they are called to support the laws of their country as the members of congress are their representatives to make those laws. (Parker)

B. Militias promote decentralization. (Cress)

IX. Conclusion