us had its first standing army in 1869.
when did the us have its first standing army?
1869
some representatives mistrusted proposals to enlarge federal powers, because they were concerned about the inherent risks of centralizing power. federalists, including james madison, initially argued that a bill of rights was unnecessary, sufficiently confident that the federal government could never raise a standing army powerful enough to overcome a militia. federalist noah webster argued that an armed populace would have no trouble resisting the potential threat to liberty of a standing army. anti-federalists, on the other hand, advocated amending the constitution with clearly defined and enumerated rights providing more explicit constraints on the new government. many anti-federalists feared the new federal government would choose to disarm state militias. federalists countered that in listing only certain rights, unlisted rights might lose protection. the federalists realized there was insufficient support to ratify the constitution without a bill of rights and so they promised to support amending the constitution to add a bill of rights following the constitution's adoption. this compromise persuaded enough anti-federalists to vote for the constitution, allowing for ratification. the constitution was declared ratified on june 21, 1788, when nine of the original thirteen states had ratified it. the remaining four states later followed suit, although the last two states, north carolina and rhode island, ratified only after congress had passed the bill of rights and sent it to the states for ratification. james madison drafted what ultimately became the bill of rights, which was proposed by the first congress on june 8, 1789, and was adopted on december 15, 1791.
second amendment to the united states constitution
the rise of centralized kingdoms among the sakalava, merina and other ethnic groups produced the island's first standing armies, first equipped with spears, but later with muskets, cannons and other firearms. king ralambo (1575–1612) raised the first standing army in the highland kingdom of imerina with a handful of guns, although for at least two centuries the armies of the sakalava were much larger and better equipped, possessing thousands of muskets obtained principally through trade with european partners. by the early 19th century, however, the army of the kingdom of imerina was able to bring much of the island under merina control. merina queen ranavalona, like her predecessors, utilized the tradition of "fanampoana" (service due to the sovereign in lieu of taxes) to conscript a large portion of the population of imerina into military service, enabling the queen to raise a standing army that was estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers.
madagascar people’s armed forces