Insurrection Act of 1807

The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a federal law that give the President of the United States the ability to deploy US military and federalized National Guard troops to any location within the United States to restore order in the event of insurrection, rebellion, or civil disorder. Officially codified in Title 10, Chapter 13 of the United States Code, the measure functions as a so-called “statutory exception” to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. That act placed limitations on the use of federally commanded military personnel for the purpose of domestic law enforcement. Since it was first signed into law in 1807, the Insurrection Act has been invoked on numerous occasions to quell conflicts and ensure the rule of law. Its use has become rare since the 1960s, however. The Insurrection Act has also been amended a number of time over the course of its history, though not all amendments have permanently remained in place.

Background

The roots of the Insurrection Act lay with two key events—the passage of the Militia Acts in 1792 and the notorious Burr Conspiracy. In the first years after the US Constitution was officially adopted, Congress intentionally sidestepped the thorny matter of the use of military force. The issue eventually became unavoidable in light of the Battle of the Wabash River, a disastrous 1791 battle in the Northwest Indian Wars that virtually annihilated an entire US Army unit. In response to this unprecedented defeat, Congress passed a pair of Militia Acts known individually as the Uniform Militia Act and the Calling Forth Act in 1792. Through the latter, Congress granted the president the authority to call up state militias for federal service under certain conditions. The original Militia Acts also included a sunset provision that established an expiration date for the powers it provided. When that date eventually passed, Congress enacted the Militia Act of 1795, which made the president’s powers related to the Calling Forth Act permanent.

In 1804, rising political figure Aaron Burr saw his ambitions abruptly go up in smoke after he killed rival and former Treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton in a duel. With little hope of repairing his reputation in Washington, D.C., Burr soon headed west to the Louisiana Territory. There, he allegedly hatched a plan to seize control of Mexican lands in the Southwest. Rumors suggested that Burr was going to invade Mexico on the pretense of a war with Spain and lay claim to whatever lands he could take. When news of the supposed plot reached Washington, President Thomas Jefferson wanted to take immediate action, but was stymied because the Constitution did not give him the authority to deploy troops to stop a rebellion. Armed with a letter from Burr co-conspirator General James Wilkenson as proof of the unfolding crisis, Jefferson asked Congress in late 1806 to pass a bill giving him the power to deploy troops domestically. The Insurrection Act was enacted just three months later. By then, Burr was already in custody.

Overview

The Insurrection Act affords the President the authority to deploy federal troops or to federalize members of the National Guard under certain conditions. Specifically, the Act can be legally invoked in the event of an insurrection against state law as long as a state government asks for federal assistance to restore order. It can also be used if there is an insurrection against federal law. In addition, the Insurrection Act establishes that the president can deploy ground or naval forces to quell an uprising.

Although the Insurrection Act has remained substantially unchanged over time, it has been amended on a few occasions. Shortly after the Civil War (1861-1865), Congress enacted a provision that gave the president the ability to invoke the Act without the express permission of a state if that state is failing to protect its citizens’ Constitutional rights. During Reconstruction, Congress further amended the act to clarify that it was within the military’s jurisdiction to enforce new constitutional amendments and any associated statutes aimed at ensuring their enforcement. Another change came in 2006 when Congress added an amendment intended to clarify the Act’s use in the event of a natural disaster; however, parts of this amendment were later removed when state governors objected to potentially being forced into ceding their authority.

The Insurrection Act has been invoked multiple times throughout American history. The first notable use came when Andrew Jackson invoked the Act in 1831 as a means of suppressing Nat Turner’s slave rebellion in Virginia. Although he never invoked the Act, Abraham Lincoln broadened it during the early stages of the Civil War to ensure that it provided him with the legal authority to wage war in a state without the permission of that state’s governor. Ulysses S. Grant invoked the Act so he could send troops to South Carolina to supress the Ku Klux Klan.

The Insurrection Act became particularly relevant again during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Dwight D. Eisenhower used it to supress opposition to the desegregation of schools in Arkansas during the Little Rock Nine incident in 1957. Similarly John F. Kennedy employed the Act in 1962 and 1963 to enforce various civil rights laws. Lyndon B. Johnson invoked it in 1965 to provide military protection to civil rights activists participating in the renowned Selma march in Alabama.

Two years later, he invoked the Act again to send troops to Detroit after rioting broke out in the city. Johnson did the same in 1968 after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. George H.W. Bush invoked the Act twice during his time in office. The first came in response to looting that occurred in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo. The second was in 1992, to quell rioting in Los Angeles that broke out following the police beating of Rodney King. In June 2020, Donald Trump threatened to invoke the act to stop the rioting and looting that occurred during protests related to the death of African American George Floyd, who was killed by a white police officer; however, Trump never followed through.

Bibliography

Barrett, Claire. “The Insurrection Act: What It Is and the Power It Gives the White House.” HistoryNet, www.historynet.com/the-insurrection-act-what-it-is-and-the-power-it-gives-the-white-house.htm. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

Carlisle, Madeleine. “What Is the Insurrection Act and Does It Give Trump the Authority to Send Military Troops Into States? Here’s What to Know.” Time, 2 June 2020, time.com/5846649/insurrection-act-1807-donald-trump. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

“The Insurrection Act of 1807.” Statutes and Stories, 8 June 2020, www.statutesandstories.com/blog‗html/the-insurrection-act-of-1807. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

LeBlanc, Paul. “What Is the Insurrection Act?” CNN, 11 Jan. 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/01/11/politics/insurrection-act-explainer/index.html. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

Montanaro, Domenico. “What Is the Insurrection Act That Trump Is Threatening to Invoke?” NPR, 1 June 2020, www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867467714/what-is-the-insurrection-act-that-trump-is-threatening-to-invoke. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

Roos, Dave. “Thomas Jefferson Signed the Insurrection Act in 1807 to Foil a Plot By Aaron Burr.” History.com, 3 June 2020, www.history.com/news/insurrection-act-thomas-jefferson-aaron-burr. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

Saltonstall, Gus. “What Is the Insurrection Act: 5 Things to Know About the 1807 Law.” Patch, 2 June 2020, patch.com/us/across-america/what-insurrection-act-5-things-know-1807-law. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

Vladeck, Steve. “Under the Insurrection Act of 1807, Here’s What a U.S. President Can and Cannot Do.” Washington Post, 19 June 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/19/under-insurrection-act-1807-heres-what-us-president-can-cannot-do. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.