Were our Founders all idiots?

Question

They fought the Revolutionary War and created a new nation. The conceived of and wrote an incredible Constitution to provide for Rule of Law for their new nation.

And then in the 2nd amendment, they give every American the RIGHT to violently overthrow the very government they just created.

How does this make any sense?

If the right-wing extremists are to be believed, the 2nd amendment is supposed to be for keeping the "government" in check, so the Founders wanted to enshrine the peoples' right to stage a coup de etat? HUH?

Seems to me that either the Founders were all raving lunatics, or the 2nd amendment has been mis-interpreted over time.

Answer 1

No, our Founders were not idiots. They did not intend for the Second Amendment to give Americans the right to fight back against an American tyrant. The Second Amendment was designed to give Americans the ability to fight back against foreign tyrants at a time when America did not have a standing army. The Founders protected Americans from an American tyrant with a carefully designed, divided government. The separation of powers in the body of the Constitution prevents an American tyrant from taking control of the country.



Conservatives are just trying to justify their own tyrannical inclinations, citing a made-up right to implement "Second Amendment Solutions" whenever American democracy doesn't side in their favor.

Answer 2

They included the 2nd Amendment because they knew how easily any form of government, democracy included, can easily become corrupted or tyrannical. They believed such an occurrence would be less likely if citizens had the firepower to overthrow the government when it became necessary to do so. In fact Thomas Jefferson said he believed there should be a revolution every 20 years. He also said that the tree of liberty must be nourished by it's natural food and drink, the blood of tyrants.



For the record Weasel Mcweasel, it's 3/5 not 2/3 of the people in question. Secondly, that compromise was necessary to keep the country united as one country instead of becoming multiple separate nations, like Europe. The history of this country would likely have been very different in ways I can't possibly imagine, though I'm pretty certain people in many areas in what we call the U.S. would be speaking a different official language other than English

Answer 3

Framers is actually a better term than founder. Note that the 2nd Amendment is an amendment. It was added later on behalf of the States. The States did not have a standing army, and were leery of a National standing army, which is why they insisted on the Amendment so that they can still keep their well regulated militias.

Study all of the State Constitutions at that time. See if any State gave citizens the right to own weapons without regulation.

Furthermore, read up on Shay's Rebellion, which led to the creation of the Constitutional Committee.

Answer 4

No no.



The 2nd 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."



The lunatic idiots want you to ignore the part about "well regulated". The Founders got it right - you can bear arms, but it will be a "well regulated" right.





More -- Here's a recent Supreme Court decision, with the opinion written by right-wing justice Antonin Scalia (again, the loony bins don't want you to read this):



"Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. [United States v.] Miller’s holding that the sorts of weapons protected are those “in common use at the time” finds support in the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons." District of Columbia vs Heller, 2008



Edit: anyone who believes that a pack of drunken rednecks stuffed into a pick-up truck and armed with whatever weapon you want, could stand up against even the smallest elements of the 101st Airborne is appalingly delusional.

Answer 5

The Founding Fathers simply didn't want the people enslaved by corrupt governments.



How does that not make sense? Yes, they wanted the people to maintain the power. No, no misinterpretation. The phobia for guns is ridiculous. We have a nation of paranoid and powerless people who think taking a gun away is the cure-all.



So, the Oklahoma City bombing, 9-11, the potential Times Square Bombing, they were all done with guns? No. The kill counts (and potential kill counts) started in the 100s. We really want to encourage nuts to resort to explosives while disarming regular people? Why? So we can feel in charge of something we have no control of? Are we also outlawing household products that can potentially be used as explosives?

Answer 6

They knew history and they knew government was the biggest threat to freedom so they had to come up with a way that the people could protect themselves from a government that would try to take their liberty.



They did try out something that was close to anarchy at first, it was called the articles of confederation but it wasn't working out so they decided that they needed some form of government so they created a document that would tie down government so the people could be free.



Now the people are being tied down and the shackles are being removed from government and politicians say its for safety.

Answer 7

It doesn't and this part of Article i Section 8 which the right-wing extremists who are experts on the Constitution have apparently never seen conclusively proves that it doesn't

"To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;



To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;



To provide and maintain a navy;



To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;



To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;



To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; "

Furthermore although the Constitution was written before the events at Place de la Concorde took place

the threat of their new country being destroyed by mob rule so terrified the Framers that they

deliberately installed firewalls in the Constitution to minimize the chance of that happening >see And to the Republic

For the pro gun folks to claim that our Framers intended for an ad hoc armed mob to destroy their country only proves that the pro gun folks honestly don't have a clue about who our Framers really were

Answer 8

It makes perfect sense. They fought the Revolutionary War to overthrow a tyrannical government. They understood what it took to overthrow such tyranny and enshrined in the Constitution the ability of future Americans to do exactly what they did. The Founders were men who,apparently, understood human nature much better than you (or I). They understood that, over time, even the limited federal government they worked so hard to create could become tyrannical because it would be administered by humans.

Some of the founders believed a revolution would be necessary and good just about every generation.



It seems to ME that you are happy to give up all your personal freedom to an all powerful federal government and willing to live under tyranny as long as it's convenient for you. Sad really.



EDIT:

He really said it:



Thomas Jefferson - “A government big enough to supply you with everything you need is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.... The course of history shows that as the government grows, liberty decreases.”

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Thomas Jefferson - “Every generation needs a new revolution.”

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And from Federalist 46, James Madison wrote in part:



"To these would be opposed a militia

amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands,

officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common

liberties, and united and conducted by governments possessing their

affections and confidence. It may well be doubted, whether a militia

thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of

regular troops. Those who are best acquainted with the last successful

resistance of this country against the British arms, will be most

inclined to deny the possibility of it. Besides the advantage of being

armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other

nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people

are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a

barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than

any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding

the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are

carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are

afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with

this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were

the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments

chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will and direct the

national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these

governments, and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be

affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne of every tyranny

in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which

surround it. Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens of America

with the suspicion, that they would be less able to defend the rights of

which they would be in actual possession, than the debased subjects of

arbitrary power would be to rescue theirs from the hands of their

oppressors. Let us rather no longer insult them with the supposition

that they can ever reduce themselves to the necessity of making the

experiment, by a blind and tame submission to the long train of

insidious measures which must precede and produce it."

Answer 9

The people didnt create a tyrannical government. They created a govrnment with checks and balances at all levels. When a government oversteps those checks and balances is the time when the people need to let their rulers know the people still posess the spirit of resistance.

Answer 10

The Founding Fathers wanted the citizenry to possess a means to protect the Constitution if the government decided to tear it to shreds.

Answer 11

The founders conceived of a government by the people and for the people and knew all to well how easily any power could and would be abused. They knew the importance of keeping the ability of the people to hold them accountable and keep them in check. Sounds pretty rational and enlightened to me

Answer 12

What's wrong with recognizing that any governments could grow oppressive when you just won your freedom from an oppressive government?

Your president just stated that he has the right to kill any American for any reason. Hello?

Answer 13

they understood how easy it is for politicians to become tyrants,they had the weapons to combat the government and knew how important it was to ensure the citizens would always have that ability. maybe you should read what they wrote back then

Answer 14

Our forefathers were very anti-monarchy, and put that in place so the citizens would be able to rise up if the government started taking the power from the people.

Answer 15

It makes perfect sense when you consider an armed citizenry had just overthrown one tyrannical government. The purpose of the 2nd ammendment was to make sure the citizenry could if it happened again.

Answer 16

No. Jefferson DID have his moments where his famous "reason" failed completely, and Washington was a crook to the degree that it made my jaw drop to learn about his crimes, but no, they were not, generally, idiots.



As shown by the fact that they wanted military weapons in the hands of the general population.



--- FAR left and PRO gun rights

.

Answer 17

The founding fathers denied the vote to half the population, (women) and counted slaves as two-thirds of a person for PROPERTY tax assessment .



So how bright, could they possibly have been?

Answer 18

So your claim is that they saw their own actions; their own creation; The United States itself as fundamentally illegitimate.

That's how we know you're a perfectly ordinary Democrat.

Answer 19

I believe it as written.It is about wel trained militias. Nothing more. Until the the supreme court ruling making the interpretation it is about defending yourself.

Answer 20

They accomplished a hell of a lot more than you have.



What great thing have you done lately?

Answer 21

No. They just anticipated morons like yourself.

Answer 22

I think Ben Franklin wasn't. And sometime Thomas Jefferson made sense. But by enlarge. They were slave owners and bigots.

Answer 23

No, it's all on you.