The Bill of Rights: A BRIEF HISTORY

ACLU (The Bill of Rights: A BRIEF HISTORY) ^ | 1997 | ACLU Briefing Paper Number 9

[Chuckster]

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[Straight Vermonter]

I was very surprised that there was no mention on FR that today is the 210th anniversary of the Bill of rights. Glad to see at least one article about the BoR on here.

[monkeywrench]

bttt!

[Cacique]

I notice however, that the UCLU paper makes no mention of the second amendment and the "right to bear arms" without which all other rights are not possible. Is it possible it is ommission on purpose ? After all the founders quite clearly understood that simply because you have rights on paper it cannot be guaranteed that the state would respect those rights. Of course the UCLU is uncomfortable with all of the citations by the founders as to the real purpose of the second amendment, which was a guarantee of the people to be armed against their own governments' possible tyranny.

[Cacique]

Opps meant the above for Jim

[Wonder Warthog]

I see that the Constitution that the ACLU uses doesn't include the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. WHY am I not surprised??

[Buckeroo]

Actually, your question could be just a little broader .... why doesn't the ACLU endorse the individual right to property?

[Libertarianize the GOP]

FYI

[Ethan_Allen]

I see that the Constitution that the ACLU uses doesn't include the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. WHY am I not surprised??

ACLU also did not go to the original source of the Bill of Rights; that is, to George Mason, the author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, upon which the US Bill of Rights is based. Remember George Mason? He and Patrick Henry refused to sign the Constitution. Henry refused to sign because we had just overthrown a monarch, and it was incomprehensible to him that we would install a new king (president) with an army at his disposal. I've been trying for a couple of weeks now to remember his exact words, but it fails me. George Mason refused to sign because of the lack of a Bill of Rights. When asked "Who are the militia?" he answered, "Why all of the people, of course. To disbar the people of the right to bear arms would be the quickest way to enslave them"

The Virginia Declaration of Rights - 1776; http://www.project21.org/VirginiaDeclaration.html

" Written by George Mason (1725-1792), who Thomas Jefferson regarded as the "the wisest man of his generation," the Virginia Declaration of Rights was adopted by the Virginia Constitutional Convention on June 12, 1776. Widely copied by the other colonies (by the end of 1776 five colonies had adopted declarations of rights; by 1783 every state had some form of a bill of rights), it became the basis of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution after Mason fought against ratification of the Constitution because it contained no bill of rights. The Declaration of Rights was also used by Thomas Jefferson for the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. The Marquis de Condorcet called the Virginia Declaration of Rights 'the first Bill of Rights to merit the name.'"

"A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS made by the representatives of the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and free convention which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of government ."......

Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

In 1920, a small group of visionaries came together to discuss how to start the engine. Led by Roger Baldwin, a social worker and labor activist, the group included Crystal Eastman, Albert DeSilver, Jane Addams, Felix Frankfurter, Helen Keller and Arthur Garfield Hayes. They formed the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and dedicated themselves to holding the government to the Bill of Rights' promises.

Actually, your question could be just a little broader .... why doesn't the ACLU endorse the individual right to property?

I just read an old blip on Roger Baldwin earlier today. It was from the Oct. 98 issue of http://newswatchmagazine.org (that particular thread is no longer there). It read ...."Roger Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, was a professed Communist. The ACLU was created to undermine all the Constitutional rights of the courts...."

Search results for Virginia Declaration of Rights: LINK

[Buckeroo]

The courts have no constitutional rights. As a government instrument of our republic, as one branch of our government, they have nothing more than a constitutional mandate to follow. And their mandate is to interpret law UNDER the Constitution.

[Buckeroo]

But I digress. The ACLU is nothing more than a subterfuge to create havoc. Keep a sharp eye out for these folks that belong to this group; you will be amazed that many are elected leaders at all levels of government.

[Ethan_Allen]

Actually, you'll get no argument from me on the first point, or on your second point, either.

[YepYep]

Today is the 60th anniversary of the establishment of December 15th as Bill of Rights Day.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed December 15 as Bill of Rights Day in 1941, and it has been observed nationally since then.--from a 1971 volume B of World Book Encyclopedia

So, happy Bill of Rights Day, everyone!

[Libertarian Billy Graham]

Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

Thanks Ethan!

Mason's Declaration of Rights is far superior to Madison's watered down version. Elbridge Gerry (another non-signer) said something like, "What is the purpose of the militia? To prevent the establishment of a standing army--the bane of liberty."

[Ethan_Allen]

I THOUGHT there were three who would not sign, but I couldn't remember who the third was. I wonder if Elbridge Gerry is THE third non-signer, or if there is still another? Good Quote; bookmarked! Thanks!

[Libertarian Billy Graham]

I believe that Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Elbridge Gerry were the 3 delegates who refused to sign.

Here is Gerry's exact quote:

"What, sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty."

Other quotes from libertarian revolutionaries:

In a letter to Thomas Jefferson on May 26th, 1788, George Mason wrote that "There are many ... things very objectionable in the proposed new Constitution; particularly the almost unlimited Authority over the Militia of the several States; whereby, under Colour of regulating they may disarm, or render useless the Militia, the more easily to govern by a standing Army."

Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Francis Hopkinson (March 13, 1789) wrote that "a bill of rights [must] secure freedom in religion, freedom of the press, [and] freedom from a permanent military..."

Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, on December 20, 1787, wrote that a Bill of Rights must "provide clearly...for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, [and] protection against standing armies..."

Thomas Jefferson to Madison, on July 31, 1788, Jefferson wrote that "It seems generally understood that [a Bill of Rights] should go to Juries, Habeas corpus, [and] Standing Armies..."

[Ethan_Allen]

Thanks, Libertarian. In light of what's been happening, those are pretty sobering quotes.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

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