--- title: Why People Rarely Talk About the Third Amendment | TIME description: Because the British army regularly commandeered colonists' homes, the Framers insisted on the right to refuse to quarter troops in private property. But the third amendment guarantee rarely comes into play today. canonical: https://time.com/video/0Fj0L2ag/ og:title: Why People Rarely Talk About the Third Amendment og:description: Because the British army regularly commandeered colonists' homes, the Framers insisted on the right to refuse to quarter troops in private property. But the third amendment guarantee rarely comes into play today. og:url: https://time.com/video/0Fj0L2ag/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0Fj0L2ag/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why People Rarely Talk About the Third Amendment twitter:description: Because the British army regularly commandeered colonists' homes, the Framers insisted on the right to refuse to quarter troops in private property. But the third amendment guarantee rarely comes into play today. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0Fj0L2ag/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Why People Rarely Talk About the Third Amendment > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Why People Rarely Talk About the Third Amendment [Watch (HLS stream): Why People Rarely Talk About the Third Amendment](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0Fj0L2ag.m3u8) (2:21)  _Published 2011-06-28. Because the British army regularly commandeered colonists' homes, the Framers insisted on the right to refuse to quarter troops in private property. But the third amendment guarantee rarely comes into play today._ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:14 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy](/video/5RNWfl7X/) ### Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy [What Does the Seventh Amendment Have to do With a 20-Dollar Bill?](/video/B0tGPscR/) ### What Does the Seventh Amendment Have to do With a 20-Dollar Bill? [The Eighth Amendment: What Would the Framers Call Cruel Punishment?](/video/IaelkBi9/) ### The Eighth Amendment: What Would the Framers Call Cruel Punishment? --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I'll break to the right. [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ MUSIC ] No soldier shall. No soldier shall in time of peace. Be quartered in any house. Without the consent of the owner. [ MUSIC ] The third amendment reflected fear of the central government and a standing Army. [ MUSIC ] No soldier shall. No soldier shall in time of peace. Be quartered in any house. Without the consent of the owner. Nor in a time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. Why were they so, much anxiety 200 years ago about, the government quartering troops in peoples houses? [ MUSIC ] History. The British had done it. The British had the nerve to order American households in Boston and actually also in New York and Philadelphia, that they quarter British troops in their houses. Think about this. The, the soldiers arrive with the power of a King, bang on the door, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Open up in the name of the King. And then they are allowed to come in and they sit where they want to sit. They eat what they want to eat. They get up and leave. Without the consent Without the consent Without the consent of the owner. Today we're a lot less fearful of the Army then the framers were. We think that the army isn't them, but us. Part of the reason why is, the Civil War proved that the Army could actually be a pro liberty, pro freedom institution rather than something that threatens liberty and freedom and equality. This may be the only amendment in the original ten amendments that constituted the Bill of Rights. It doesn't come into terribly active play in our lives today. Last time you looked this amendment's working really well. The government isn't quartering troops in people's homes very often. 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