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Smith: 2nd Amendment Meant to use Against Tyranny
Josey1
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Smith: 2nd Amendment Meant for People to use Against Tyranny!
Patrick Henry's Quote on 'Ambuscade and Treason'
By Bernadine Smith
Patrick Henry saw in the Constitution many loopholes, which horrified him. In 1787 he called it a "crazy magazine" and vehemently opposed its adoption. He never let up till 1791, when the people's liberty became somewhat safeguarded by the Bill of Rights.
Henry had fought in the long war to establish liberty and he did not intend to let this Constitution "trample on your fallen liberty!" It granted power to the new government, but it held no safeguards for the liberty of the people. Henry saw many dangers in the document signed even by George Washington, and he railed against it.
Henry's insight told him that what was being done with the militia was sheer madness! Art. 1, Sec. 8, Clauses 15 & 16 turned the militia over to Congress, and Art. II, Sec. 2, Clause 1 turned the command of the militia over to the President to be its "Commander-In-Chief...when called into the actual service of the United States".
"When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of Americans was different; liberty, sir, was then the primary object," Henry fumed.
To turn the militia over to the very people who had to be watched, the ones who, he predicted, would "seize all power unto themselves, and convert the states into one consolidated government," was foolhardy! He predicted that the presidency would someday lead to treason. "Your militia will leave you and fight against you!" he warned.
Henry declared that the government was being granted too much money and too much power; that the power of the federal courts would enable the president to swell the patronage rolls; that the people were negligently suffering their liberty to be wrested from them; and that the treaty-making power of the president was one of the Constitution's most fearful features and would lead us into the most ruinous of foreign engagements.
He advised the people that the Constitution was being written as if only good men would take office. "What will you do when evil men take office?" he demanded. "When evil men take office, the whole gang will be in collusion! They will keep the people in utter ignorance and steal their liberty by ambuscade!" he warned. He added: "Your laws on impeachment are a sham and a mockery due to mutual implication of government officials!"
He expounded for twenty-three days in the Virginia statehouse on these and many other weak points in the document. As a result States began to refuse to ratify the Constitution.
"My great objection to this government is that it does not leave us the means of defending our rights, or waging war against tyrants. Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defense, the militia, is put in the hands of Congress? Your guns are gone! What resistance could be made? Will you assemble and just tell them?
"Even if you could assemble, how will you enforce rightful punishment when due? Oh, sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if to punish tyrants, it were only necessary to assemble the people. A standing army we shall have, also to execute the execrable commands of tyranny."
Henry continued: "Let Mr. Madison tell me when did liberty ever exist when the sword and the purse were given up from the people? Unless a miracle shall interpose, no nation ever did, nor ever can, retain its liberty after the loss of the sword and the purse! Congress, by power of taxation, by the raising of an army, and by their control over the militia, have the sword in one hand and the purse in the other. Shall we be safe without either? Congress has unlimited power over both: they are entirely given up by us!
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty! Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel! Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force, and whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined! When the government removes your armaments, you will have no power but government will have all power!" he warned.
PATRICK HENRY
With all the force of his great oratorical skill, he challenged his audience in the Virginia statehouse with this directive: "The least you can do is guard this Constitution with a Bill of Rights!"
Henry had rightfully envisioned the unlimited control the federal government would some day assume over the states and the militias. Since he could not get the support needed to immediately open up another convention and re-do the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was the only recourse to prevent the serious transgressions he foresaw in days to come.
The Bill of Rights he was prescribing would require a strong prohibition written into it in order to guard against federal officials' ability to interfere, in anyway whatever, singularly or collectively, with the people's right to keep and bear arms. It was understood by all at the time, that the prime reason for what we now call "our Second Amendment" was to enter an interdiction which would extricate the militia from the Executive and Congress and give the people a chance at least to resist and arrest tyranny.
The Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
This became a command to the people to keep a watch on government from that day forward. The fathers who finalized the amendment held all of the people of the future responsible for providing the everlasting security for a free state, for the state to remain free! It further meant that all the people had to be well trained, equal to the task of sustaining the condition of a free state.
The Preamble to the Bill of Rights added an umbrella of security to all of the amendments in the Bill of Rights by ordering that there was to be no misconstruction or abuse of Constitutional powers; that the peoples' rights needed to be understood by all [declaratory], and that, in particular, the federal government was to keep "hands off" [restrictive]!
Tracing the footsteps of Patrick Henry reveals that the real intent and purpose of the Second Amendment was not to broaden the power of the federal government nor that of the state; instead, it was drafted to exercise authority over any public official who became tyrannical. Complete control of the militia by public officials would leave the people with no recourse against tyranny!
As George Washington first saw it, Art. I, Sec. 8, Clauses 15 & 16 and Art. II Sec. 2, Clause 1, appeared to be sufficient, permitting public officials on state and federal levels of government to call out (draft) the militia of Americans citizens for two purposes:
(1) to protect the duly authorized laws of the nation against insurrection or rebellion
(2) to protect against foreign invasion.
However, in tracing the events that preceded the writing of the Second Amendment, it has been proven that Pres. Washington developed a broader view of the militia. Patrick Henry's influence upon these events is a matter of public record.
Having great respect for Henry, Washington included the following in his Militia Plan No.2 of 1790, which reflects his views regarding the purpose of the militia:
"The well informed members of the community, actuated by the highest motives of self-love, would form the real defense of the country. Rebellions would be prevented or suppressed with ease; invasions of such a government would be undertaken only by mad men; and the virtues and knowledge of the people would effectually oppose the introduction of tyranny."
Reader Comments:
On 2002-07-30 09:02:49, A. Wheeler wrote:
The problem with Gen. Washington's statement is the part about how "the virtue and knowledge" of the people would prevent tyranny. When "the people" aren't particularly virtuous and even less knowledgeable, government can use its power to bribe, coerce or otherwise intimidate them to accept what virtuous, knowledgeable people would never accept. We at that sorry place now. Where we're headed should be easy to predict for people with virtue and knowledge.
http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=3431
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Patrick Henry's Quote on 'Ambuscade and Treason'
By Bernadine Smith
Patrick Henry saw in the Constitution many loopholes, which horrified him. In 1787 he called it a "crazy magazine" and vehemently opposed its adoption. He never let up till 1791, when the people's liberty became somewhat safeguarded by the Bill of Rights.
Henry had fought in the long war to establish liberty and he did not intend to let this Constitution "trample on your fallen liberty!" It granted power to the new government, but it held no safeguards for the liberty of the people. Henry saw many dangers in the document signed even by George Washington, and he railed against it.
Henry's insight told him that what was being done with the militia was sheer madness! Art. 1, Sec. 8, Clauses 15 & 16 turned the militia over to Congress, and Art. II, Sec. 2, Clause 1 turned the command of the militia over to the President to be its "Commander-In-Chief...when called into the actual service of the United States".
"When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of Americans was different; liberty, sir, was then the primary object," Henry fumed.
To turn the militia over to the very people who had to be watched, the ones who, he predicted, would "seize all power unto themselves, and convert the states into one consolidated government," was foolhardy! He predicted that the presidency would someday lead to treason. "Your militia will leave you and fight against you!" he warned.
Henry declared that the government was being granted too much money and too much power; that the power of the federal courts would enable the president to swell the patronage rolls; that the people were negligently suffering their liberty to be wrested from them; and that the treaty-making power of the president was one of the Constitution's most fearful features and would lead us into the most ruinous of foreign engagements.
He advised the people that the Constitution was being written as if only good men would take office. "What will you do when evil men take office?" he demanded. "When evil men take office, the whole gang will be in collusion! They will keep the people in utter ignorance and steal their liberty by ambuscade!" he warned. He added: "Your laws on impeachment are a sham and a mockery due to mutual implication of government officials!"
He expounded for twenty-three days in the Virginia statehouse on these and many other weak points in the document. As a result States began to refuse to ratify the Constitution.
"My great objection to this government is that it does not leave us the means of defending our rights, or waging war against tyrants. Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defense, the militia, is put in the hands of Congress? Your guns are gone! What resistance could be made? Will you assemble and just tell them?
"Even if you could assemble, how will you enforce rightful punishment when due? Oh, sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if to punish tyrants, it were only necessary to assemble the people. A standing army we shall have, also to execute the execrable commands of tyranny."
Henry continued: "Let Mr. Madison tell me when did liberty ever exist when the sword and the purse were given up from the people? Unless a miracle shall interpose, no nation ever did, nor ever can, retain its liberty after the loss of the sword and the purse! Congress, by power of taxation, by the raising of an army, and by their control over the militia, have the sword in one hand and the purse in the other. Shall we be safe without either? Congress has unlimited power over both: they are entirely given up by us!
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty! Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel! Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force, and whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined! When the government removes your armaments, you will have no power but government will have all power!" he warned.
PATRICK HENRY
With all the force of his great oratorical skill, he challenged his audience in the Virginia statehouse with this directive: "The least you can do is guard this Constitution with a Bill of Rights!"
Henry had rightfully envisioned the unlimited control the federal government would some day assume over the states and the militias. Since he could not get the support needed to immediately open up another convention and re-do the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was the only recourse to prevent the serious transgressions he foresaw in days to come.
The Bill of Rights he was prescribing would require a strong prohibition written into it in order to guard against federal officials' ability to interfere, in anyway whatever, singularly or collectively, with the people's right to keep and bear arms. It was understood by all at the time, that the prime reason for what we now call "our Second Amendment" was to enter an interdiction which would extricate the militia from the Executive and Congress and give the people a chance at least to resist and arrest tyranny.
The Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
This became a command to the people to keep a watch on government from that day forward. The fathers who finalized the amendment held all of the people of the future responsible for providing the everlasting security for a free state, for the state to remain free! It further meant that all the people had to be well trained, equal to the task of sustaining the condition of a free state.
The Preamble to the Bill of Rights added an umbrella of security to all of the amendments in the Bill of Rights by ordering that there was to be no misconstruction or abuse of Constitutional powers; that the peoples' rights needed to be understood by all [declaratory], and that, in particular, the federal government was to keep "hands off" [restrictive]!
Tracing the footsteps of Patrick Henry reveals that the real intent and purpose of the Second Amendment was not to broaden the power of the federal government nor that of the state; instead, it was drafted to exercise authority over any public official who became tyrannical. Complete control of the militia by public officials would leave the people with no recourse against tyranny!
As George Washington first saw it, Art. I, Sec. 8, Clauses 15 & 16 and Art. II Sec. 2, Clause 1, appeared to be sufficient, permitting public officials on state and federal levels of government to call out (draft) the militia of Americans citizens for two purposes:
(1) to protect the duly authorized laws of the nation against insurrection or rebellion
(2) to protect against foreign invasion.
However, in tracing the events that preceded the writing of the Second Amendment, it has been proven that Pres. Washington developed a broader view of the militia. Patrick Henry's influence upon these events is a matter of public record.
Having great respect for Henry, Washington included the following in his Militia Plan No.2 of 1790, which reflects his views regarding the purpose of the militia:
"The well informed members of the community, actuated by the highest motives of self-love, would form the real defense of the country. Rebellions would be prevented or suppressed with ease; invasions of such a government would be undertaken only by mad men; and the virtues and knowledge of the people would effectually oppose the introduction of tyranny."
Reader Comments:
On 2002-07-30 09:02:49, A. Wheeler wrote:
The problem with Gen. Washington's statement is the part about how "the virtue and knowledge" of the people would prevent tyranny. When "the people" aren't particularly virtuous and even less knowledgeable, government can use its power to bribe, coerce or otherwise intimidate them to accept what virtuous, knowledgeable people would never accept. We at that sorry place now. Where we're headed should be easy to predict for people with virtue and knowledge.
http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=3431
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
Nil Illegitimus Carborundum
Edited by - GARS320 on 08/02/2002 19:37:17