[guy.zino]

“XIX. That any person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, ought to be exempted upon payment of an equivalent to employ another to bear arms in his stead.” I am reading S. George Tucker’s View of the Constitution and I saw this. I am not sure what this means. Is is that a person that is against bearing of arms due to religious convictions is exempted from having to bear them in the instance, for example, of war as long as he has shown to somehow support the employment of others not having the same scruples in his protection with firearms? Like paying a tax to support the local militia?
Thanks
Guy

[gutzmank]

Yes. At the time of the Revolution, the states began to exempt such people from requirements of military service. They had in mind chiefly the Quakers, who are pacifists and whom it was widely thought unjust to punish for refusing military service. The alternative mentioned here was not paying for militia service, but paying someone to go into the Continental Army.

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