“No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.”

Prior to the American Revolution colonialists were subject to British rules most of which offended them. One such rule or act was the Quartering Act of 1765 which the British parliament enforced on private home and property owners. It stipulated that private and public property owners had to house, supply and feed the British military that occupied their town. Property owners obviously hated this act. As a result, the colonial legislatures had no choice but to raise taxes to pay for their housing and other expenses. This was an example of “Taxation without representation”.

It was also an example of heavy-handy British authority forcing people to accept in their midst the standing army of a country they were increasingly antagonistic towards. In addition to that inconvenience the property owners had to, at times, put up with the rowdy, drunken behavior of the soldiers.

After the American Revolution the Third Amendment was seldom used to restrain the military. However, in 1952 President Harry Truman seized control over the steel mills in order to continue their operation prior to a threatened 600,000 union member strike during the Korean war. The Supreme Court subsequently denied that power referencing in part, the third Amendment. Recent concerns surfaced when 50,000 National Guardsmen were sent into areas badly hurt by hurricane Katrina in 2005 and 8,200 US Military members (National Guardsmen, Army and Marines) were sent to cover the destruction caused by the Los Angeles riots in 1992.

Future interpretations of the Third Amendment will undoubtedly arise when the terms, “house”, “owner” and “soldier” will have added meanings and definitions.

The Third Amendment was signed at the same time (December 15, 1791) as the entire Bill Of Rights that encompassed the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Sources:
https://www.law.ua.edu/
https://dsc.duq.edu/
https://alphahistory.com/

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