After the formation of the United States, the founding fathers saw state militias as the main force to defend the new country. They were controlled by the individual states and not by a central government. When the United States Constitution was ratified, it gave the federal government the right to raise a standing army but the feeling at the time was that such an army was to be kept small. This was the prevailing thought up to the 20th century. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and other laws of 1792 gave the President the power to call out the state militias to put down rebellion and to fight against any foreign invaders. But, the call for militias had to be authorized by the state legislatures, the militias themselves could only serve for three months in any given year and the size of the militia the President was allowed to call up was limited to 75,000. 