The Declaration of Independence is often misunderstood, which I wrote about here. One of the most important, yet overlooked, sections of the document is the list of indictments against King George III. The indictments are further evidence that the Declaration was never meant to be a revolutionary statement. From the Magna Carta to the colonial constitutions, George III was indicted for violating existing laws. Jefferson listed a total of 27 indictments against the King. Throughout February, we’re going to look at one indictment a day, why it was levied, and why it is still relevant.
King George III faces indictment #11
Indictment #11 reads as follows:
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
Why was the indictment levied: After the Seven Years War (French and Indian War), Great Britain kept a permanent “standing” army in the colonies. This was done to keep both the French and the Native American tribes from enacting violence.
The colonies welcomed protection from the crown, as they fought side-by-side in the Seven Years War. In fact, a 22-year-old George Washington built his military and leadership resume serving in this conflict. But after it became clear that Great Britain was no longer threatened by France and the Indian tribes, the colonists became suspect of the need to keep a military presence in their domain.
This standing army did not react to the political will of the colonies. They were stationed “without the consent of legislatures” and enforced unjust laws that I have detailed in previous indictments.
Why is this important today: Under Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, Congress has the power to declare war. War means that human life can be sacrificed in the name of an existential threat. Who decides what defines an existential threat? The people who potentially die in war. Stakes that high require the “consent of our legislatures.”
We had defenders and critics of a standing army in the founding generation. The critics were right in predicting what a central military would do, aka the “military industrial complex” that Dwight Eisenhower belatedly warned us about. When was the last time America declared war? It wasn’t against Saddam Hussein. It wasn’t Vietnam. It wasn’t against tiny Grenada under Reagan, either.
It was against Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania in 1942. World War II was the last time we constitutionally declared war, and we’ve been at peace ever since.
Except we are not at peace. The American military is active in more countries now than ever before, and not a single one of these conflicts were declared constitutionally. In 2017, President Donald Trump asked Secretary of Defense James Mattis why we are still in Somalia. “Can’t we just pull out?” To which Mattis replied, “you have no choice.” A clear example of “without the consent of our legislatures.” Wars are now declared by bureaucrats.
Most Americans don’t even know that we are in Somalia. Even fewer know that it’s the longest conflict we have ever been involved in, just recently beating out Afghanistan. When the public is barely aware of how their military is being used, it is a clear indictment that their government does not represent them.