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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hoa Hao who wrote (94279)	1/8/2005 11:37:44 AM
From: Hoa Hao	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793757

FOUNDING FATHERS INTENT BEHIND THE CONSTITUTION: Samual Adams: "The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." (Convention of the Commonwealth of Mass., 86-87, date still being sought) Noah Webster: "Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority...the Constitution was made to guard against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters." (Source still being sought) Thomas Jefferson: "On every occasion...[of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed." (June 12 1823, Letter to William Johnson) Joseph Story: "The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them." (Story, Joseph. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. 3 vols. Boston, 1833.)

To: Hoa Hao who wrote (94279)	1/8/2005 11:55:10 AM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 793757

Thomas Jefferson was NOT a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Nor was Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Thomas Paine, Noah Webster, Joseph Story, and several others you cite (Tench Coxe, William Rawle). teachingamericanhistory.org Thank you for proving my point. You went to a lot of trouble to demonstrate what the delegates to the Constitutional Convention thought, but cited opinions by people who were never there. This is, unfortunately, all too typical of so-called "scholarship" about the Constitution. I am not blaming you, as I believe you in good faith posted something you read someplace else, and assumed that the author knew what he was talking about. My broader point, be skeptical of what people tell you about the Constitution, is enhanced by your mistake. Thank you.