A solid majority of states had them. And, if by "pretty quickly" you mean the half century 'til Jackson's election. And, while property requirements were heading down, skin color requirements were heading UP most places.
Think of things in terms of a progression: Back in England, large land-owners and large bond-holders had the vote. Just about nobody else did. In colonial times, land-owners of lesser means entered the electorate. This was the progress of centuries.
Then, suddenly, in a few decades, the electorate goes from the less than 10% of the population who could claim title to enough land or gold to meet property requirements to closer to half of the population in some states who can meet the requirements of white and male. And, to harp on PA some more, until 1876 the only requirement was 'male citizen'.
Like I said, radical. The institutions necessary to bring about that kind of change were birthed in the Founding period.
Name one such example. I'm not sure the native americans we mostly efficiently ethnically cleansed would agree with you about American militia forces being so minor. The Iraqis we left only slightly protected who experienced a spiral of increasing gang violence and ethnic cleansing would also disagree.
Reality is that real people need real protection from crooks, gangs, and warlords.
Iceland during the middle ages is a good example. At low enough population densities, with enough available resources, human beings are perfectly capable of living with
no state at all.
As population density increase, the needs of the population increase as well. Does this mean that, the moment an anarchy no longer works, we need an all embracing state? Of course not, the magnitudes are different depending on the specifics of the population.
And who better to determine those specifics than the population itself?
The challenge, then, is to create an America where the populace itself is in charge, rather than any one faction or interest group. The two primary interest groups at the time of the Revolution were the slave-owners and the debt-holders. That means we need to find a way to deal with both problems. I mentioned several ideas in my initial post and, so far, nobody has bothered to address them. Since they're the relevant portion of my post, I have to wonder why.
Yes, of course - EVERYTHING is Hamilton's fault, including communism and me hurt left toe. Since you can't seem to read what I write, let me repeat:
In short, the Evil Hamilton's side ALREADY included, once the Constitution was done, Washington, Madison, Monroe, and most other founders and even most of the American people who could see plenty of signs that central government was needed via their newspapers and Federalist Papers.
How's this any realer than communism? Name one prosperous country that has virtually no army and isn't under another's protection. How about one successful big country without a strong central federal government?
One of the primary components of constructive debate is
honesty. I have been honest throughout this particular discussion. I would ask you also be honest by not trying to misrepresent me or my position, especially not in a sarcastic or mocking manner.
Alexander Hamilton really did have a malignant effect on the early republic. He used his position as Secretary of the Treasury to accomplish political aims. Inadvertently, he proved that the political elite could effect a change in the constitution (emphasis on the lack of upper case C in that word -- I'm speaking of the actual form of the government) of the government for factional ends without reference or support from the wider populace. That precedent is dangerous to the maintenance of a constitutional order and the upholding of the rule of law.
Switzerland does pretty well for itself with a modern variant of the militia system. Not entirely without professional forces, but I never did make the claim that we could transition to a more republican, liberal order immediately. I'm talking, instead, about late 18th century America, where such a transition is a lot easier to make and, indeed, almost happened.