“to apply to such inhabitants . . . as, in their opinions, can best spare their arms..."

The Journals Of Each Provincial Congress Of Massachusetts, “to apply to such inhabitants of their respective towns and districts as, in their opinions, can best spare their arms or accoutrements, and to borrow or purchase the same”, May 9, 1775

   The above is by no means the only example of such requests by various early American governments of that period. Had the American people not had arms in our possession, the Revolution would have been lost very early on.