[rdb3]

I take it you mean to ships used during the Revolutionary War. And if so, you are correct, they were privately owned.

But I have two questions for you. If these are the ships you mean, was there a United States of America fully functioning at the time, and, did we have a Constitution?

[DB]

Sorry...

I was being sarcastic...

I don't think the founders intended us to buy F-16 individually to protect our selves... A national defense is one of the few constitutional functions of the federal government.