page_title: History of the United States Army National Guard
section_title: Post American Civil War
hierarchical_section_title: History of the United States Army National Guard / Post American Civil War
caption_attribution_description: English: "Sixth Regiment Fighting its way through Baltimore", engraving. Fighting occurred during the Great railroad strike of 1877.
context_page_description: The history of the Army National Guard in the United States dates from 1636, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony's government organized existing militia companies into three regiments. The National Guard's history continued through the colonial era, including the French and Indian War, and extends into the modern era, including participation in the War on Terror.
context_section_description: In 1867, Congress suspended the right of each former Confederate state to organize its militia until it resumed normal functions as part of the United States, and the U.S. Army enforced martial law during Reconstruction and guarded polls during the presidential election of 1876.  In addition to enforcing federal law in the south, the Army was used to suppress labor unrest in the North, as during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.  In response Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act in 1878, which limited the president's ability to employ the military within the United States during peacetime without the consent of Congress.
  Governors could still employ the militia during labor strikes or civil disturbances, and concern over the militia's increased use for this function led states to revise their militia laws and reorganize their units in order to be better prepared to respond to such events.
caption: The 6th Regiment, Maryland National Guard fights its way through the city during the Baltimore railroad strike of 1877.  From Harper's Weekly.
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