Can a State organize an army or navy during peacetime, without the consent of the United States Congress?
In theory the United States is a republic of sovereign, independent states — hence the name, United States. In a republic, the sovereign states band together and create a federal government to which they provide resources. This federal government is then responsible for determining a single cohesive foreign policy and organizing a single defensive force. Originally, any State was free to remove itself from the republic, and this is what the Confederacy tried to do. We all know what the result of that was, so we can see that in practice the United States is not a republic, and States are not free to leave it. (There are strong secessionist movements in Hawaii, Alaska, Maine, Texas, and California, but it remains to be seen whether they would be permitted to secede should these movements grow large enough to be reckoned with.) However, remember that the US constitution not only states that the citizens themselves have the right to bear arms as part of a well-organized militia, but state
