I recently came across this extremely well-sourced overview of the prevalence of training with arms in early America and I wanted to share:
The Right to Train: A Pillar of the Second Amendment (https://ssrn.com/abstract=4089974)
There are a lot of the 'greatest hits' quotes that I've seen or heard other Appleseeders quote. I would be surprised if you didn't learn something new :) Here's one of my favorite anecdotes from the paper:
QuoteBefore his own presidency (which began in 1825), President James Madison sent John Quincy Adams to St. Petersburg to serve as Minister to Russia from 1809 to 1814. Adams left his brother Thomas instructions for watching his children in his absence. Prominent among these was a request that Thomas train the childrenâ€"George (age 9), John (age 7), and Charles (age 3)â€"with firearms:
QuoteOne of the things which I wish to have them taught . . . is the use and management of firearms. . . . The accidents which happen among children arose more frequently from their ignorance, than the misuse of weapons which they know to be dangerous. . . . I beg you occasionally from this time to take George out with you in your shooting excursions, teach him gradually the use of the musket, its construction, and the necessity of prudence in handling it; let him also learn the use of pistols, and exercise him at firing at a mark.
And another:
QuoteOne example was provided by John Andrews, an aid to British General Thomas Gage, who recounted an incident in which Redcoats were unsuccessfully trying to shoot at a target on the Boston Common. When an American mocked them, a British officer dared the American to do better. The American repeatedly hit the target, and "[t]he officers as well as the soldiers star'd, and tho't the Devil was in the man. Why, says the countryman, I'll tell you naow. I have got a boy at home that will toss up an apple and shoot out all the seeds as its coming down." A clearly exaggerated report from London warned that American militiamen "all have and can use arms . . . in so particular a manner, as to be capable of shooting a Pimple off a man's nose without hurting him."
I've heard some feedback from folks that this link wasn't ideal (not a link directly to the paper). I contacted the author and got permission to share a copy on our forum. I've attached the copy that was shared with me to this post.
There are some great (and well-sourced) historical anecdotes in this paper that I think would make excellent additions to the history we tell. This whole paper is a good overview of how important the tradition of Rifle Marksmanship has been throughout American history.