"Each citizen carries his own arms always ready for battle."

"We have no magazines of small arms; the organization of our national strength is different from that of any other nation on earth. Each citizen carries his own arms always ready for battle."--William Eaton, Secretary of the United States, June 28, 1801 letter to Thomas Jefferson, from Tunis, (Concerning a request for arms by the Bey of Tunis). [AMERICAN STATE PAPERS. DOCUMENTS, LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE, OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, FROM THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIRST TO THE THIRD SESSION OF THE THIRTEENTH CONGRESS, INCLUSIVE: COMMENCING MARCH 3, 1789 AND ENDING MARCH 3, 1815. SELECTED AND EDITED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS, BY WALTER LOWRIE, Secretary of the Senate, AND MATTHEW ST. CLAIR CLARKE, Clerk of the Home of Representatives. VOLUME II. WASHINGTON: Published By Gale and Seaton. 1832.]