Posse Comitatus Act

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/posse-comitatus-act

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the date of original enactment?June 18, 1878
2. What is the legislative origin?Amendment to an army appropriations bill
3. What does the Posse Comitatus Act say about soldiers and police?It says soldiers cannot be used to enforce laws in the U.S. like police do. The law keeps the military separate from everyday policing.
4. Why was the Posse Comitatus Act made after the Civil War?After the war, people worried the Army might be used to police the South again. The law was created to keep the Army out of domestic policing.

Posse Comitatus: A legal doctrine granting sheriffs the authority to conscript able-bodied citizens to assist in law enforcement.
Domestic Law Enforcement: The application and enforcement of laws within a nation's borders by civilian agencies.
Civilian Control of the Military: The principle that the military should be subordinate to elected civilian authorities.
Reconstruction Era: The period in U.S. history (1865-1877) following the Civil War focused on rebuilding the South and readmitting states to the Union.