The 3rd amendment prohibits the government from forcing you to quarter soldiers on your personal property. It was written in response to a common practice of the British army during the Revolutionary War.
The third amendment protects against forced quartering of soldiers in reaction to the British Quartering Acts, which required colonies to feed and house British soldiers. Of course the soldier in this case is (hopefully) not forcing himself into this house, but I think the humor more comes from the fact that we hardly think or talk about that amendment anymore (as opposed to the first, second, fifth, etc.)
The third amendment was Boston's traumatic response to the British occupational forces that landed there forcing the locals to house and feed them.
It'd be like if the Carolinas came to the convention with an amendment drafted specifically about not being allowed to use terror tactics against enemy combatants because of Tarleton or if New York put in especially harsh punishments for treason because of Benedict Arnold.
Something that was forgotten since though is that this was a time before the development of professionalized civilian policing. Those soldiers were there as a policing force, and the third amendment was basically written with the intent that a police force cannot force the city they are policing to provide for them since policing is by definition not a service to the people who encounter it, but rather a service done to the people around the person encountering it.
Supposedly in retaliation to British soldiers making themselves comfy in colonial homes when they pass by (but like, our soldiers did it too, the locals weren't happy when ANYONE armed was coming through)
Our 3rd amendment to our constitution states: 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.
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.
God, what shitty verbiage. It's so hard to decipher their intent in that last line. Like, there's no way they read that and said, "Yep, clear as day. No way to misinterpret that. There exists no other combination of words that could convey our intent more clearly."
"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."
The 3rd amendment is that soldiers can't live in people's homes unless the owner consents to it. I think it goes back to the war where they would just go into any home and live there.