Homeland Security and the Early Settlers

As mentioned previously, Homeland Security can trace its history to the days when the earliest settlers made the English colonies of North America their home.  Those pioneers faced a multitude of threats, including famine and disease, by Indians, and other European powers.  Far from England, and in the absence of an organized security force, their vulnerability induced them to organize into militias.  The first American militia, the true forerunner to the National Guard, was formed in the Colony of Virginia in 1607.  The First Representative Assembly in the New World convened on July 30, 1619, and the General Laws and Liberties of the Massachusetts Bay Colony," were published in 1648.  The infrastructure was in place for sovereignty and self-defense although it would take another century for that to be contemplated as such.

The colonies operated as dependencies of the Crown, and colonial officials held their offices at the pleasure of the Crown.  The actual day-to-day administration of colonial affairs was the King’s Privy Council, a group of advisors appointed by and accountable to the King.  Many unreasonable demands were made and incidents of tyranny were prevalent.  By 1776, the oppression of an occupying power became intolerable, and the Colonialists began a 15 year odyssey from dominated colony to the sovereign United States of America.

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The short History Channel video above provides a brief description of what the Jamestown settlers faced. The Jamestown settlers continued to experience the usual threats to survival, prosperity and values, as did other settlements that similarly persevered over the next century to eventually become part of the thirteen original colonies.  Independently, they sought sufficient security to allow for the pursuit of religion and prosperity, while collectively they experienced the tyranny of their colonial ruler, King George III.  That abuse was as direct a threat to homeland security as oppressed citizens could be subjected to, with occupation forces on their land and in their homes, and little recourse available in court or elsewhere.  To resolve matters of internal conflict, they would look to an equitable settlement from within or the vestiges of common law (judge made precedent) they had brought over from England.  Overall, those initial years were marked by the assumption of great risk that nearly ended in the demise of the settlers.