01-21-2013, 12:45 AM
From some friends:
Please note that some of the most heinous academic frauds during past
years have been perpetrated by intellectually dishonest academics in
order to undermine and destroy the Second Amendment. They carried weight
only because of their university employer's imprimatur and the media's
repetition of their lie. This latest one attempts to do so by dredging
up an old discounted professor's claim equating the Second's purpose
with the suppression of slaves. The fact that this notion was put forth
by a professor named Bogus is most appropriate.
-Dan Gifford
---------
At issue:
I dont know if you know the genesis of the right to bear arms. The
Second Amendment comes from the right to protect themselves from slave
revolts, and from uprisings by Native Americans. So, a revolt from
people who were stolen from their land, or revolt from people whose land
was stolen from, thats what the genesis of the Second Amendment is.
Danny Glover Says Second Amendment Prevented Slave Revolts, Conservative
Students Petition
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/19...11638.html
The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says
"State" instead of "Country" (the Framers knew the difference - see the
10th Amendment), was to preserve the slave patrol militias in the
southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia's vote. Founders
Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on
that . . . and we all should be too.
The Second Amendment was Ratified to Preserve Slavery
By Thom Hartmann
Truthout
15 January 2013
http://truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the...ve-slavery
In his recent U.C. Davis Law Review article "The Hidden History of the
Second Amendment," Roger Williams University School of Law Professor
Carl T. Bogus offers a thesis that could forever change the way
Americans view the Second Amendment: James Madison wrote the Second
Amendment to assure the southern states that Congress would not
undermine the slave system by disarming the militia, which were then the
principal instruments of slave control throughout the South.
The Hidden History of the Second Amendment
By Professor Carl T. Bogus
Roger Williams University School of Law
as published in the U.C. Davis Law Review
http://www.vpc.org/fact_sht/hidhist.htm
THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT
By Carl T. Bogus *
University of California at Davis Law Review
http://www.saf.org/lawreviews/bogus2.htm
----------
The facts:
Comment by Don Kates
Kates is recognized as one of the
to Second Amendment authorities
http://michellawyers.com/attorney-profile/don-b-kates/
My friend Jim Wolfe has written me asking my opinion of an article
by someone named Thom Hartmann who thinks the Second Amendment was
invented by Southern slave- holders to allow them to arm militias to
suppress slave revolts.
Google informs me that Mr. Hartmanns historical expertise consists
in his being a radio talk show host. His comments on the Second
Amendment represent a new apex in historical ignorance. Our Founding
Fathers believed in the importance of everyone having access to arms
because that was a mainstay of liberal political philosophy in the 18th
Century. The Founders views on the value of the right to arms began with
Aristotle whom they revered as the font of liberal political thought.
[For instance, Aristotle, POLITICS 218 (J. Sinclair trans., 1962): free
government exalts an armed people, but oligarchies and tyrants "mistrust
the people and therefore deprive them of their arms."] It is perhaps
necessary to inform Mr. Hartmann that Aristotle was not an 18th Century
American southerner.
The same view was enunciated by Englishmen up to and including Sir
Walter Raleigh who asserted that a tyrant acts "To unarm his people, and
store up their weapons, under pretense of keeping them safe...." [8 W.
Raleigh, THE WORKS OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH, KT., NOW FIRST COLLECTED 22
(Oxford, 1829).] For Mr. Hartmanns benefit, let me point out that
Raleighs comments pre-dated American slavery. Indeed they
predated English settlements in America.
A modern historian notes that "Renaissance theorists as dissimilar
as Nicholas Macchiavelli and Sir Thomas Moore, Thomas Hobbes and James
Harrington [shared] a consensus that only men willing and able to defend
themselves could possibly preserve their liberties."; [and that] the
theme of arms possession as both the hallmark and the ultimate guarantee
of personal liberty appears equally in the writings of Cicero, Locke and
Trenchard."
Statements lauding the right to arms and popular possession of arms
as basic to free government were common to the liberal
political philosophers known to the Founders e.g., Grotius, Locke,
Montesquieu, Blackstone, DeLolme and Beccaria, among many others. For
Mr. Hartmanns benefit I should point out that none of these European
philosophers were slave-holders or Southerners or even Americans.
Grotius was a 17th Century Dutchman, Locke was a 17th-18th Century
Englishman, Montesquieu and DeLolme were 18th Century Frenchman,
Blackstone was an 18th Century Englishman and Beccaria was an 18th
Century Italian. None of their pronouncements were focused on America
nor did they have any interest in defending slavery in America or
elsewhere. What they said about the importance of everyone having access
to arms were virtual truisms to the liberal philosophers of their era.
Now lets talk about American advocates of the right to arms. For the
Founding Fathers and the philosophers they revered, the right of
ordinary people to arms was a precept of liberal political thought.1 A
comment by an anonymous late 18th Century American expresses what
appears to have been a well nigh universal 18th Century American view:
In free governments "there is not the slightest difficulty or jealousy
about putting arms into the hands of every man in the country."2
A recently published 300+ page volume offers scores of such quotes from
statesmen of every important segment of late 18th Century American
opinion from North and South akike.3 [Stephen Halbrook, THE FOUNDERS
SECOND AMENDMENT: ORIGINS OF THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS] A few examples:
JOEL BARLOW a late 18th Century American poet and diplomat from
Connecticut published a pamphlet which was among the earliest works
arguing for abolition of slavery. He also wrote a pamphlet lecturing
Europeans on how and why a free society like America encouraged its
people to be armed.
THOMAS JEFFERSONs model for a state constitution guaranteed: "No free
man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."4 Of course he was a
Southern slave holder, but if that was a factor in Jeffersons advocacy
of an armed society he forgot to mention it.
ROGER SHERMAN endorsed "the privilege of every citizen, and one of his
most essential rights, to bear arms, and to resist every attack on his
liberty and property, by whomsoever made."5 Sherman, who was not a
slaveholder, was from Connecticut which he represented in the Senate
until his death in 1791.
JAMES MADISON, assured Americans that they could not be tyrannized by
the new federal government "because of the advantage of being armed,
which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other
nation."6 Madison was a Southerner but his endorsement of an armed
people was a truism among 18th Century American whether slave-holders or
not.
SAM ADAMS proposed an alternative guarantee of the right to arms: "the
said constitution [shall] be never construed ... to prevent the people
of the United States who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own
arms."7 Adams, who was not a slaveholder, was from Massachusetts.
THOMAS PAINE asserted that "arms like laws discourage and keep the
invader and plunderer in awe and preserve order in the world.... Horrid
mischief would ensue were [the good] deprived of the use of them... the
weak will become a prey to the strong."8 Paine, who was not a
slaveholder, was an English immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania and
later in N.Y.
JOSEPH STORY summarized the views of late 18th Century Americans like
himself: "one of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their
purpose without resistance is, by disarming the people and making it an
offense to keep arms." Story, who was not a slaveholder, was from
Massachusetts.
NOAH WEBSTER, who also expressed such sentiments was neither a
slaveholder nor a southerner. He was from Connecticut.
TENCH COXE who expressed such sentiment, was not a slaveholder. He was
from Pennsylvania.
###
Please note that some of the most heinous academic frauds during past
years have been perpetrated by intellectually dishonest academics in
order to undermine and destroy the Second Amendment. They carried weight
only because of their university employer's imprimatur and the media's
repetition of their lie. This latest one attempts to do so by dredging
up an old discounted professor's claim equating the Second's purpose
with the suppression of slaves. The fact that this notion was put forth
by a professor named Bogus is most appropriate.
-Dan Gifford
---------
At issue:
I dont know if you know the genesis of the right to bear arms. The
Second Amendment comes from the right to protect themselves from slave
revolts, and from uprisings by Native Americans. So, a revolt from
people who were stolen from their land, or revolt from people whose land
was stolen from, thats what the genesis of the Second Amendment is.
Danny Glover Says Second Amendment Prevented Slave Revolts, Conservative
Students Petition
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/19...11638.html
The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says
"State" instead of "Country" (the Framers knew the difference - see the
10th Amendment), was to preserve the slave patrol militias in the
southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia's vote. Founders
Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on
that . . . and we all should be too.
The Second Amendment was Ratified to Preserve Slavery
By Thom Hartmann
Truthout
15 January 2013
http://truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the...ve-slavery
In his recent U.C. Davis Law Review article "The Hidden History of the
Second Amendment," Roger Williams University School of Law Professor
Carl T. Bogus offers a thesis that could forever change the way
Americans view the Second Amendment: James Madison wrote the Second
Amendment to assure the southern states that Congress would not
undermine the slave system by disarming the militia, which were then the
principal instruments of slave control throughout the South.
The Hidden History of the Second Amendment
By Professor Carl T. Bogus
Roger Williams University School of Law
as published in the U.C. Davis Law Review
http://www.vpc.org/fact_sht/hidhist.htm
THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT
By Carl T. Bogus *
University of California at Davis Law Review
http://www.saf.org/lawreviews/bogus2.htm
----------
The facts:
Comment by Don Kates
Kates is recognized as one of the
to Second Amendment authorities
http://michellawyers.com/attorney-profile/don-b-kates/
My friend Jim Wolfe has written me asking my opinion of an article
by someone named Thom Hartmann who thinks the Second Amendment was
invented by Southern slave- holders to allow them to arm militias to
suppress slave revolts.
Google informs me that Mr. Hartmanns historical expertise consists
in his being a radio talk show host. His comments on the Second
Amendment represent a new apex in historical ignorance. Our Founding
Fathers believed in the importance of everyone having access to arms
because that was a mainstay of liberal political philosophy in the 18th
Century. The Founders views on the value of the right to arms began with
Aristotle whom they revered as the font of liberal political thought.
[For instance, Aristotle, POLITICS 218 (J. Sinclair trans., 1962): free
government exalts an armed people, but oligarchies and tyrants "mistrust
the people and therefore deprive them of their arms."] It is perhaps
necessary to inform Mr. Hartmann that Aristotle was not an 18th Century
American southerner.
The same view was enunciated by Englishmen up to and including Sir
Walter Raleigh who asserted that a tyrant acts "To unarm his people, and
store up their weapons, under pretense of keeping them safe...." [8 W.
Raleigh, THE WORKS OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH, KT., NOW FIRST COLLECTED 22
(Oxford, 1829).] For Mr. Hartmanns benefit, let me point out that
Raleighs comments pre-dated American slavery. Indeed they
predated English settlements in America.
A modern historian notes that "Renaissance theorists as dissimilar
as Nicholas Macchiavelli and Sir Thomas Moore, Thomas Hobbes and James
Harrington [shared] a consensus that only men willing and able to defend
themselves could possibly preserve their liberties."; [and that] the
theme of arms possession as both the hallmark and the ultimate guarantee
of personal liberty appears equally in the writings of Cicero, Locke and
Trenchard."
Statements lauding the right to arms and popular possession of arms
as basic to free government were common to the liberal
political philosophers known to the Founders e.g., Grotius, Locke,
Montesquieu, Blackstone, DeLolme and Beccaria, among many others. For
Mr. Hartmanns benefit I should point out that none of these European
philosophers were slave-holders or Southerners or even Americans.
Grotius was a 17th Century Dutchman, Locke was a 17th-18th Century
Englishman, Montesquieu and DeLolme were 18th Century Frenchman,
Blackstone was an 18th Century Englishman and Beccaria was an 18th
Century Italian. None of their pronouncements were focused on America
nor did they have any interest in defending slavery in America or
elsewhere. What they said about the importance of everyone having access
to arms were virtual truisms to the liberal philosophers of their era.
Now lets talk about American advocates of the right to arms. For the
Founding Fathers and the philosophers they revered, the right of
ordinary people to arms was a precept of liberal political thought.1 A
comment by an anonymous late 18th Century American expresses what
appears to have been a well nigh universal 18th Century American view:
In free governments "there is not the slightest difficulty or jealousy
about putting arms into the hands of every man in the country."2
A recently published 300+ page volume offers scores of such quotes from
statesmen of every important segment of late 18th Century American
opinion from North and South akike.3 [Stephen Halbrook, THE FOUNDERS
SECOND AMENDMENT: ORIGINS OF THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS] A few examples:
JOEL BARLOW a late 18th Century American poet and diplomat from
Connecticut published a pamphlet which was among the earliest works
arguing for abolition of slavery. He also wrote a pamphlet lecturing
Europeans on how and why a free society like America encouraged its
people to be armed.
THOMAS JEFFERSONs model for a state constitution guaranteed: "No free
man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."4 Of course he was a
Southern slave holder, but if that was a factor in Jeffersons advocacy
of an armed society he forgot to mention it.
ROGER SHERMAN endorsed "the privilege of every citizen, and one of his
most essential rights, to bear arms, and to resist every attack on his
liberty and property, by whomsoever made."5 Sherman, who was not a
slaveholder, was from Connecticut which he represented in the Senate
until his death in 1791.
JAMES MADISON, assured Americans that they could not be tyrannized by
the new federal government "because of the advantage of being armed,
which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other
nation."6 Madison was a Southerner but his endorsement of an armed
people was a truism among 18th Century American whether slave-holders or
not.
SAM ADAMS proposed an alternative guarantee of the right to arms: "the
said constitution [shall] be never construed ... to prevent the people
of the United States who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own
arms."7 Adams, who was not a slaveholder, was from Massachusetts.
THOMAS PAINE asserted that "arms like laws discourage and keep the
invader and plunderer in awe and preserve order in the world.... Horrid
mischief would ensue were [the good] deprived of the use of them... the
weak will become a prey to the strong."8 Paine, who was not a
slaveholder, was an English immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania and
later in N.Y.
JOSEPH STORY summarized the views of late 18th Century Americans like
himself: "one of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their
purpose without resistance is, by disarming the people and making it an
offense to keep arms." Story, who was not a slaveholder, was from
Massachusetts.
NOAH WEBSTER, who also expressed such sentiments was neither a
slaveholder nor a southerner. He was from Connecticut.
TENCH COXE who expressed such sentiment, was not a slaveholder. He was
from Pennsylvania.
###