Amendment III

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."

An Analysis of the 3rd Amendment

From our point of view, this seems to be one of the strangest Amendments in the Bill of Rights, and yet the Founding Fathers decided not only to suggest it, but to adopt it.

Basically, the 3rd Amendment means that no member of -any- military force (including our own!) was ever to be put up (allowed to stay) in private homes during peacetime without the owner's permission; and no member of any military force was ever to be put up in private homes during times when war was officially declared without Congress first stipulating the term(s) under which such arrangements were to be made.

Why were the Founding Fathers worried about this? During the Revolutionary War, the American troops suffered while encamped in the fields, while the British troops stayed nice and warm by forcing private citizens to house British troops. Any home owner that did not do this was tried for treason, and usually shot or hung as a traitor and their property taken.

A Modern 3rd Amendment

During Peacetime, no member of any military force shall ever be put up in any private home without the owner's permission. During times when War is officially declared, no member of any military force shall ever be put up in any private home without Congress first stating in writing the terms for such arrangements.