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The Second Amendment Was Ratified to Preserve Slavery
BY
Thom Hartmann, Truthout
PUBLISHED
January 15, 2013
https://truthout.org/articles/the-second-amendment-was-ratified-to-preserve-slavery/
In the beginning, there were the militias. In the South, they were also called the slave patrols, and they were regulated by the states.
In Georgia, for example, a generation before the American Revolution, laws were passed in 1755 and 1757 that required all plantation owners or their male white employees to be members of the Georgia Militia, and for those armed militia members to make monthly inspections of the quarters of all slaves in the state. The law defined which counties had which armed militias and even required armed militia members to keep a keen eye out for slaves who may be planning uprisings.
By the time the US Constitution was ratified, hundreds of substantial slave uprisings had occurred across the South. Blacks outnumbered whites in large areas, and the state militias were used to both prevent and to put down slave uprisings. As Dr. Bogus points out, slavery can only exist in the context of a police state, and the enforcement of that police state was the explicit job of the militias.
BusterMove
(11,996 posts)While a big part of it, they weren't all about slave revolts.
State Militias had several very vital roles in securing liberties. Despite given very specific functions - i.e. made mandatory - in the Constitution, it is no surprise they, and the people's role in them, were deemed "necessary" in the 2nd
The pre-amble explains why...
"..in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty..."
and the Constitution explains how...
"The Congress shall have Power To...To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;"
And guarantees it - thanks greatly to the Militias...
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence."
Roland99
(53,342 posts)And the National Guard
There are no militias except the wannabes filled with neo nazis
BusterMove
(11,996 posts)sop
(10,170 posts)ck4829
(35,070 posts)We'd probably see a return to women being executed for witchcraft in this country before meaningful gun reform.
JustAnotherGen
(31,819 posts)Demographics are changing rapidly in America, and we may need to put down violent uprisings by white supremacist extremists.