"Then came, Oscar, the time of the guns.
    And there was no land for a man, no land for a country,
    Unless guns sprang up
    And spoke their language.
The how of running the world was all in guns."

- Carl Sandburg

Introduction

[Guns remain an enigmatic symbol in America society - an emblem of [liberty, independence, power, strength, masculinity, fear, oppression, conquest]. America's relationship with its guns today is a... How did it get to be that way?]

My research project is based on the simple inquiry: how were guns regulated in Colonial America? It is a question that is (relatively) easy to answer using primary sources; the who, what, where, when and how of early American gun regulation can be read right from the statutes. But the ease of the inquiry belies the magnitude of its implications. The Colonial statutes tell a story of fear and domination - a fragile and paranoid population of foreigners, trying desperately to exclude, suppress and subjugate every other group they encountered. Firearm regulation provides a clear example of the modalities of power and violence that enabled the colonialist project.

Gun Regulations

The Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts

• Context
• No mention of arms in the first code (The Body of Liberties, 1641).
• Arms regulation first appears in the 1672 version.
• Later revisions to the code reflect the conditions of an ongoing war with the Native Americans.
• A 1678 council resolution marks the first attempt to regulate civilian use of arms.
• Indians and Strangers
  • "Nor shall any person, sell, give or Barter, directly or indirectly, any Gun or Guns, Powder, Bullets, Shot, Lead, to any Indian whatsoever, or to any person Inhabiting out of this Jurisdiction."
  • French and Dutch and other foreign Nations are prohibited from trading with “our Indians”
  • Approved traders may "sell unto any Indian or Indians, not in Hostility with us, or any of the English in New England, Powder, Shot, Lead, Guns, (i.e. Hand Guns, Rapier or Sword blades)" provided that he account honestly for the items sold and pay a tax to the Treasury.
• Militias
• "Forasmuch as the well ordering of the Militia is a matter of great concernment to the safety and welfare of this Common-wealth"
• Who is armed?
  • Every person above the age of sixteen years must attend military exercise and service as training, watching and warding. Exemptions for certain officials, etc., "and such other as for bodily infirmity or other just cause, shall by any County Court . . . be discharged."
  • "And all other Inhabitants of this Jurisdiction, except Magistrates and Elders of Churches, the President, Fellows and Students of Harvard Colledge, shall always be provided of Arms."
  • Penalties for not having arms. Provisions for furnishing arms to the poor.
• What kind of arms are required?
  • Officers shall take care that their Soldiers are well and completely armed, at least two thirds with "a good fixed Musquet, not under Bastard Musquet Bore, nor under three foot nine inches in length, not about four foot three inches long, with a Priming wire, Worm, Scouter and Mould, fitted to the Bore of his Musquet, also with a good Sword . . .one pound of Powder, twenty Bullets . . ." Troopers and Pikeman, armed only with swords and pike, may comprise the remaining third of the Company.
  • In a supplementary statute passed in Fall 1675, the General Court acknowledged that "it is found by Experience that Troopers and Pikemen are of little use in the present warr with the Indians." Accordingly, the Court revised the laws to required Troopers and Pikemen to furnish themselves with firearms. (The same session of the General Court also yielded a provision that one thousand Fire Arms, Muskets and Carbines should be "sent for," to be paid for out of the public treasury and proportionally distributed to the several towns of the Colony.)
• Other Requirements
  • No shots are to be fired after the evening Drum beat has sounded, except in case of alarm.
  • Smiths are required to repair all arms brought to them “for which they shall not refuse such pay as the Country affords."
  • "The Clerk shall twice ever year view all Arms and Amunition of the Company, and take notice that every Souldier be furnished according to this Law . . . And further the said Clerk shall once in the year at least, Survey the Arms of all other Inhabitants, and see that all be provided in their Houses with Arms and Amunition."
  • "The Surveyor General shall yearly give an account of the common stock of Powder and Amunition to the Council, that the General Court being by them informed, may out of he piblick Treasury make a constant supply according to the need of the Country."
  • In a supplementary statute passed at a later date, the Commonwealth emphasized the "weight and necessity" of its duty to "see that all Souldiers should be fitted with Armes, and well skilled to use them." Accordingly, it enacted more stringent penalties for any soldier found deficient in arms or training.
  • Anyone importing powder, lead, bullets, shots or any ammunition whatsoever shall give notice to the Public Notary, who shall record the quantity of such items and the names of the persons to whom they are sold. Exports of powder are similarly regulated.
• Laws & Ordinances of War
• Council Resolution of March 28, 1678
• Citing complaints from citizens that "several persons had been killed" and that "youths and grown persons too frequently shoot within the limits of towns" on the pretense of shooting at fowl, "whereby persons are endangered to be killed in their gardens, orchards or adjacent Commons." Accordingly, "to prevent such inconveniences and mischiefs for the future," the Council enacted a resolution imposing liability for any damage inflicted by errant gunfire. [More on this]

The Blue Laws of Connecticut

• Context
  • Enacted by the General Court in 1650
  • No mention of arms in earlier codes ("Fundamental Orders of 1639," "Constitution of the Colony of New Haven," etc.) - these codes focused on the structure an powers of government, no mention of any individual rights or liberties.
• Indians
  • Any Indian who shall "meddle with, or handle any English mans weapons of any sorte, either in theire howses, or in the fields, they shall forfeit for every such default a half a fathom of wampum."
  • No man shalle "amend, repaire, or cause to be amended or repared, any gunn, small or great, belonging to any indian, nor shall indeavor the same, nor shall sell nor give to any indian . . any such gunn, nor any gunpowder or shott, or lead, or shott mould, or any military weapon or weapons, armor, or arrowe heads".
  • Laws forbade the selling, bartering or transporting of any guns, power, bullets or lead to any person inhabitating out of the jurisdiction, without license of the court. Fines for infraction were ten pounds per gun and five pounds per bullet.
  • No "Duchmen, or person of any other foreign nation, or any English living amongst them" may trade, either directly or indirectly, with any indians within the limits of the Connecticut jurisdiction.
  • General attitude about Indians:
    • Introductory clause explains that "our lenity and gentleness towards indians hath made them growe bold and insolent"; accuses foreigners of "strengthening and animating the indians against us"
    • Code reflects weariness and fear of indians, but also recognizes that there should be some way to "convey the light and knowledge of God and his words" to the indians, and instructs churches to proselytize
• Military Affairs
  • Who is armed?
    • All persons above the age of 16 are required to bear arms, except magistrates, church officers and those granted exemption by the court.
    • Penalties for want of arms; procedure for the provision of arms to those who lacked the means to secure them
  • What kind of arms are required?
    • Every male above the age of 16 shall have "in continual readiness, a good musket, or other gun, fit for service."
      • This provision explicitly refers to "every male person", while the general requirement that everyone bear arms (which immediately precedes it in the code) refers to to "all persons" - does that mean the general requirement of arms-bearing applied to women?
    • Every male person about the age of 16 - even those exempted elsewhere - shall "be always provided with and have in readiness, by them, half a pound of power, two and a half pounds of serviceable bullets or shots, and two fathom of match to every matchlock." Separate requirements for the provision of gunpowder to "every soldier in several trained bands of each town."
      • Distinction between soldiers and regular citizens?
    • Public Armory: Two barrels of gunpowder and six hundred weight of lead provided by the commonwealth are to be maintained as the country stock. Additionally, each town in the commonwealth was required to provide and maintain a particular amount of gunpowder, ammunition, muskets and other weapons. (Code prescribed specific amounts for each town, presumably according to their size.)
  • Other Requirements
    • Military structure: Soldiers choose their own officers, who must be confirmed by the court.
    • All soldiers are to be trained at least six times a year.
    • Twice a year the clerk of each band shall inspect the arms and ammunition of the band to ensure they are in accordance with the law. The clerk shall report all defects in arms or ammunition to the magistrate who shall take appropriate action, "wherein due regard is to be had of willful negligence in any, and such may not pass without severe censure."

Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall of the Colony of Virginea

* Context

• • First set of laws in English America
  • Enacted 1607
• • A common penalty for a soldier's infractions was to "be put to death with such Armes he carry." [2.3, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.21, 2.23, 2.34, 2.37,
  • 2.13 " . . . which may unworthy him to carry Armes."
  • 2.27 " . . and shall have care of their Armes."
  • 2.29 "No man shall sell, give, imbezzell, or play away his Armes, or any part thereof, upon paine of death."
  • p 44, "It is the responsibility of the Marshall to "provide that the companies be trained . . . rather shot then other Armes." *p 50 It is prohibited to "run[] where any quarrel is a foote, and companies gathered together, furnished with other Armes then his sword" and to "not repairing to the place of Armes, or Colors at the publique beating of the Drum," or " Of wilfully firing any place, without order from the superior officer," or "Of a souldier being found unfurnished of his armes . . .(3.43)"

Statutes at Large of the Colony of Virginia

Collected for publication in 1809 by William Waller Hening, the Statutes at Large represents the full body of Virginia law from 1609 through 1778. The statutes contain numerous provisions related to guns and gun control, generally in relation to the following categories:

Foreigners

• 1609, Second Charter - Colonists "shall and lawfully may . . . for their defence and safety, encounter, expluse, repel and resist, by force or arms, as well as by sea and land, all ways and means whatsoever, all and every such person and persons whatsoever, as (without the special license of the said treasurer and company, and their successors), shall attempt to inhabit" the colony or plantation. [Volume 1, p94]

Misc.

• 1629, Acts of the General Assembly - "ALl men that are fitting to beare armes, shall bringe their peices to the church uppon payne of every offence" to pay 2 lb. of tobacco. (Note - how much was that worth?) [Vol. 1, p 174]

Records of the Colony of Rhode Island

Other Documents

In his 1588 report on the status of the Virginia Colony, Thomas Hariot (a subordinate of Sir Walter Raleigh), includes guns among the list of things which "so far exceeded" the capacity of the native peoples "to comprehend the reason and means how they should be made and done, that they thought they were rather the works of gods then of men, or at the leastwise they had been given and taught us of the gods." Other items on this list included books and "spring clocks that seemed to go off by themselves." Hariot also mentions using "caleevers" to shoot black bears.

In his instructions for the settling of Virginia, John Smith warned colonists: "And how weary soever your soldiers be, let them never trust the country people with the carriage of their weapons; for if they run from you with your shott, which they only fear, they will easily kill them all with their arrows. And whensoever any of yours shoots before them, be sure they may be chosen out of your best marksmen; for if they see your learners miss what they aim at, they will think the weapon not so terrible, and thereby will be bould to assault you."

George Percy's Observations: - "There the Captaine landed all his men being well fitted with Muskets and other convenient Armes, marched a mile into the Woods; being commanded to stand upon their guard, fearing the treacherie of the Indians, which is an ordinary use amongst them and all other Savages on this Ile, we came to a Bath standing in a Valley betwixt two Hils." - "The eighteenth day, the Werowance of Paspihae came himselfe to our quarter, with one hundred Savages armed, which garded him in a very warlike manner with Bowes and Arrowes, thinking at that time to execute their villainy. Paspihae made great signes to us to lay our Armes away. But we would not trust him so far: he seeing he could not have convenient time to worke his will, at length made signes that he would give us as much land as we would desire to take. [Land given. These Savages are naturally great theeves.] As the Savages were in a throng in the Fort, one of them stole a Hatchet from one of our company, which spied him doing the deed: whereupon he tooke it from him by force, and also strooke him over the arme: presently another Savage seeing that, came fiercely at our man with a wooden sword, thinking to beat out his brains. The Werowance of Paspiha saw us take to our Armes, went suddenly away with all his company in great anger."

Long Guns

The Militia

Broader Implications

Colonialism and Power

Class, Race and the de facto caste system

Modern Parallels

Documents

• The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts
This document contains selections from the Colonial Laws of Massachusetts, 1641 - 1686. Blank pages indicate where parts have been omitted from the original text. The full text can be found at Archive.org.
• The Blue Laws of Connecticut
This document contains selections from the Connecticut Code of 1650, know as the "Blue Laws". Blank pages indicate where parts have been omitted from the original text. The full text can be found at Archive.org.

-- JuliaS - 25 Oct 2009

• MassLawExcerpts(lowres).pdf: Excerpts from the Colonial Laws of Massachusetts

*Note

This document is a little hard to read; the high resolution version was too large (~190MB) to upload here. If anyone can tell me how to upload a larger document or how to make a document smaller without losing quality, that'd be great.

• ConnecticutCodeExcerpts.pdf: Excerpts from the Blue Laws of Connecticut