Flappers & Fiction

Captain Daniel Morgan Taylor examines America’s hopelessly obsolete militia laws of 1890, which still required citizens to arm themselves with muskets, flintlocks, and spare flints despite the recent Franco-German War showcasing modern breech-loading rifles. He traces how the original 1792 militia act, designed when every able-bodied man between 18 and 45 served, became utterly impractical with a population approaching eight million eligible men. Through decades of failed reform attempts by presidents from Washington to Jackson, the theoretical militia system died while volunteer organizations like the National Guard emerged to fill the void. Taylor argues that with proper federal funding, these volunteer units could provide effective defense, noting that liberal support in 1887 increased active militia by ten thousand men within a year.