Invasion and insurrection : security, defense, and war in the Delaware Valley, 1621-1815 / Jeffery M. Dorwart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dorwart, Jeffery M., 1944-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Subversive activities.

History.

Internal security.

Delaware River Valley (N.Y.-Del. and N.J.)--History, Military.

Delaware River Valley (N.Y.-Del. and N.J.).

Delaware River Valley (N.Y.-Del. and N.J.)--Defenses--History.

Delaware River Valley (N.Y.-Del. and N.J.)--Military policy--History.

Internal security--Delaware River Valley (N.Y.-Del. and N.J.)--History.

Subversive activities--Delaware River Valley (N.Y.-Del. and N.J.)--History.

Physical Description:

250 pages : maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Newark, [Del.] : University of Delaware Press, [2008]

Summary:

This book seeks to discover when, why, and how Delaware Valley communities, between 1621 when the Dutch West India Company issued instructions for the security and defense of the Delaware River until 1815 as the region abandoned its Committee of Defense of the Delaware at the end of the War of 1812, first used military force to repel invasion in times of war and suppress insurrection in peace-time. It traces how these mid-Atlantic communities confronted constant threats from real or imagined enemies, invasion, and insurrection from earliest seventeenth-century settlement, and articulated ideas and built institutions for security, defense, and war. Thus this work follows their thinking about the nature and meaning of and organizations for security, defense, and war during the many periods of colonial, revolutionary, and early national conflict that convulsed the region. It argues that from the beginning these Delaware Valley communities failed to differentiate between their concern for defense against external attacks or invasion in wartime with that of providing security for their home communities against internal enemies during peacetime. The debate over security and defense in times of peace and war became a fundamental part of the intense dialogue surrounding development and protection of Anglo-Saxon constitutional rights, privileges, and liberties, and an entrepreneurial and Protestant Christian way of life. Though conflicted about using force both to defend against invasion and suppress insurrection, over time as the Delaware Valley communities moved to the center of colonial wars, revolution, and establishment of a republic and constitutional government, their long experience with security, defense, and war that blurred the lines between military defense in wartime and preserving peacetime security eventually fused into Article 1, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution to "empower the congress to use the militia to repel invasion and suppress insurrection."

Contents:

1 "For the Establishment, Security and Defence of this Trade" 19

2 "To Retire into Towns for Their Better Safety and Security" 35

3 "For the Security and Defence of Our Said Territory" 51

4 "For Our Defence and Security in this Time of Danger" 69

5 "For the Better Security and Defence of the Inhabitants" 82

6 "Suppressing all Tumults and Insurrections" 97

7 "Direct All Matters Necessary for Security and Defence" 109

8 "For Their Immediate Security and to Repel Hostile Attacks" 122

9 "Guard for Their Own Security and Defence" 135

10 "For the Protection and Security of the People" 149

11 "To Increase Security Is in Reality Not a New Idea" 164

12 "Arming One Part of Society Against Another" 179

13 "To Suppress Insurrections and Repel Invasions" 196.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-239) and index.

ISBN:

9780874130362

0874130360

OCLC:

213133370