[Gondring]

robertpaulsen specifically mentioned The Militia Act of 1792, a document that clearly specifies white males in its federal standards for the organization of the militia.

[Gondring]

oops...meant to ping you to my reply mentioning you.

[Pharmboy]

Thank you for the clarification and information. Appropriate apologies to RP...

[El Gato]

a document that clearly specifies white males in its federal standards for the organization of the militia.

But that is the "federal" definition of the militia. The Congress has power to provide for organizing and arming the militia, but not to say who is and who not in the militia. Otherwise they could say one needed to be 80 years and blind in at least one eye, thus negating the effectiveness of the militia as a counter to the "standing army". Even Federalists were somewhat wary of a standing army, and anti-Federalists, who the bill of rights was designed to placate, were positively apoplectic about it.

Even today, with the federal definition unchanged except to remove the "white" part, and to include female members of the National Guard, states have their own definitions. In Texas it is pretty much everyone, save a few public officials, 18-60, men and women alike.