What is your opinion on the overall impact of the American militia on the outcome of the Rebellion? In what ways did they make a positive contribution, and in what ways did they have a negative impact? Could the Revolution have been won without them? If the militia was a success and crucial to winning the war, why then did the institution largely disappear in the decades following the war, especially given American’s general mistrust of a large standing army? Why do you think the role of the militia, despite the often minor role they played in the outcome of the rebellion, remains a prominent feature of American understanding of the conflict, while that of the Continentals is minimized or even forgotten?
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