Militia Act

The Militia Act was a law, passed by the Confederate States of America in 1885, which has governed the operation of state militias since.

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Two of the major stipulations in the Militia Act are the Territorial Rule and the Naval Rule.

The Territorial Rule allows for militias, bearing a licence from any state, to operate in any territory that is not a state. In effect, this included the entirety of the Mexican lands as well as the Caribbean islands. This was the key intention of the law, namely to allow self-armed militias to enter the territories and assist Confederate authorities in enforcing the law and slavery.

The Naval Rule, meanwhile, allows for militias to operate armed ships with certain limits. Militias were not to operate ships of more than 500 tons' displacement, and were restricted to guns of 3 inches or smaller.