Militia

The Constitution empowers Congre to “‘ provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppre insurrections and repel invasions.”” In 1792 an act was pa ed ‘‘ to provide for the national defense by establishing a uniform militia throughout the United States,’’ by the enrollment of ‘‘ every free able-bodied white male citizen,” between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. The Act of. March 2, 1867, permitted the enrolling of negroes. In 1862 the length of time for which the militia might be called out was fixed at nine months, The militia has been called out three times: in 1794, at the. time of the Whiskey Insurrection in Pennsylvania, during the War of 1812, and in 1861 during the Civil War.