3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 502-11 (1980)
| dc.coverage.spatial | New Jersey | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-06-03T22:20:48Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1757 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Required most men aged 16 to 50 to enroll in the colony's militia, maintain specified arms and ammunition, and attend three annual training musters. Absences, appearing unarmed, or failing to keep required equipment resulted in fines, enforceable through seizure and sale of property. Captains were required to inspect arms regularly. Selling alcohol to militia members during musters was prohibited and punishable by fine. During invasions, rebellions, or alarms, militia members were subject to court-martial discipline for disobedience or nonappearance, though punishments could not include death or mutilation. | |
| dc.description.lawtext | BE IT ENACTED by the Governor, Council and General Assembly of this Colony, and it is hereby Enacted by the Authority of the same, That every Captain within this Colony who already is, or hereafter shall be appointed, shall make a true and perfect List of all the Men that now do, or hereafter shall dwell within the Districts or Divisions of which they are or shall be Captains, between the Age of Sixteen and Fifty Years (except the Gentlemen of his Majesty's Council, the Representatives of the General Assembly, Protestant Ministers of the Gospel of every Denomination and Persuasion, Magistrates, Sheriffs, Coroners, Constables, and all Field Officers, and Captains, who heretofore have, now do, or hereafter shall bear such Commissions; Ferry Men, one Miller to each Grist Mill, bought Servants, and Slaves). And all and every Person and Persons so enlisted as aforesaid, shall appear upon the Parade appointed by their Captains or Superior Officers, three Times in the Year, to wit, on the second Monday in April, on the first Monday in October, and on the first Monday in November, where they shall be taught the Use of their Arms by their Officers. Every such Person shall be completely armed with one good Musquet or Fusee well fixed, a Sword or Bayonet, a Cartouch Box or Powder Horn, three Charges of Powder, and three sizeable Bullets; and the said Persons shall continue under Arms but one Day at each Time, besides at such other Times when they may be called together by an Order in Writing under the Hand of the Captain General or Commander in Chief for the Time being, at such Places in each respective County as shall be by him appointed, to be taught the Use of their Arms. PROVIDED ALWAYS, that such calling together in Writing as aforesaid shall not exceed once in a Year, and said Persons to be kept in Arms but one Day at such Time, except in Case of Alarms. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid, that every Person so enlisted as aforesaid, who shall not appear at the Times and Places aforesaid to be taught the Use of their Arms, shall forfeit and pay (in lieu of the Fines for non-Appearance in the afore-recited Act) the Sum of Six Shillings for each of the said Days' Absence, to the Captain of the Company to which they belong, except in Cases of Sickness or other reasonable Excuse to be allowed by the Captain or other commanding Officer of the said Company. And if any Person so enlisted as aforesaid, shall appear at the Times and Places aforesaid, and not under Arms but as a Spectator or Looker-on, every such Person shall forfeit and pay to the Captain of the Company in which he is so enlisted, the Sum of Twelve Shillings, for his Contempt in not joining the said Company with his Arms, as is by this Act directed. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid, that if any Person or Persons shall neglect or refuse, upon Demand, to pay any of the Forfeitures incurred by this or the former recited Act, to the Captain or his Order, as thereby directed, every such Captain is hereby required to make out a true and exact List of the Names of all such Defaulters, together with the Sum and Sums annexed, by them so forfeited; and shall deliver the same to any one Justice of the Peace of the County wherein such Delinquents reside (such Justice not being one of the People called Quakers). And every such Justice is hereby required and commanded forthwith to issue his Warrant, without Fee or Reward, to any one of the Constables of the same County, to make Distress upon every such Defaulter's Goods and Chattels so neglecting or refusing to pay as aforesaid; and to expose the said Goods and Chattels to sale by Public Vendue in the usual Manner. And after the Sale thereof, the said Constable shall forthwith pay to every such Captain the Forfeitures recovered as aforesaid, to be by him the said Captain applied to the Use and Uses in the said former recited Act appointed, and shall then return the Overplus (if any) to the Owner, after deducting one Shilling for his Trouble, for each Distress and Sale, which he is hereby allowed to take. PROVIDED ALWAYS, that every such Distress shall be made in a reasonable Manner; and not upon the Arms and Ammunition the Persons so enlisted are obliged to provide themselves with by this Act, and but once in every Year. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid, that every Person so enlisted as aforesaid within this Colony, shall always be provided with one good Musquet or Fusee well fixed, a Cartouch Box or Powder Horn, One Pound of Powder, Twenty-four sizeable Bullets, three Flints, and a Sword or Bayonet in his House or Place of Abode; and as often as any of the said Persons shall be deficient in keeping the Arms and Stores aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay to the Captain of the Company where such Offence is committed, the Sum of Four Shillings for the Use in the former recited Act appointed. And each respective Captain within this Colony is hereby empowered and required to order and appoint their Serjeants to examine the same once in every four Months at farthest. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid, that no Innholder, or any other Person or Persons whatsoever, shall presume to sell or give any strong Liquor to any of the Persons so listed, on such Days or Times that they are obliged to appear in Arms, until after they are dismissed for that Day; and every Person or Persons so selling or giving strong Liquors contrary to the Directions of this Act shall forfeit the Sum of Three Pounds, to be recovered by any Person that will sue for the same, before any Justice of the Peace, the one half to such Person as will prosecute the same to effect, the other half to be applied for purchasing the Arms and Ammunition aforesaid. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid, That in Times of any Invasion, Insurrection, Rebellion, or Alarm in this Colony, all the Officers and Persons so enlisted as aforesaid, who shall be commanded to their Arms by Order of the Captain General or Commander in Chief for the Time being, or other Officer or Officers by Virtue of the former recited Act, during the Times of such Invasion, Insurrection, Rebellion or Alarm, are hereby made subject to such Pains and Penalties for non-Appearance and Disobedience as shall be inflicted upon them by Sentence of a Court Martial. Which Court Martial shall consist of a Field Officer, four Captains and two Lieutenants of the said Militia, who shall be under Oath to execute Justice impartially; which Oath any Field Officer or Magistrate may administer. And every such Court Martial (during the Times of such Invasion, Insurrection, Rebellion or Alarm as aforesaid) are hereby authorized and empowered to inflict such Pains and Penalties on all and every Offender and Offenders, as the said Court in their Discretion shall think they justly deserve. PROVIDED ALWAYS, that no such Pains and Penalties shall extend to the taking of Life or Member. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://dspace.firearmsresearchcenter.org/id/frc0001/5913 | |
| dc.rights | CC0 1.0 Universal | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ | |
| dc.subject | ARMED FORCES | |
| dc.subject | MILITIAS | |
| dc.title | 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 502-11 (1980) |
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