Thom Hartman: The 2nd Amendment was ratified to help preserve slavery.

[ThoughtCriminal]

48. Generally your own

Your words are roughly 30% of post 13, the rest are from Kopel. While you are correct that I was not addressing the question of northern states in my posts, but I was directly addressing your attack on the credibility of Bellesiles. In doing this, you cited, without attribution, a non-credible, ultra right-wing source with a history of fabrication. The other sources were mentioned, but not quoted or sourced. "Missing an attribution" is the sort of thing that got Bellesiles in trouble, but DU is not an academic publication and you should not be expected to meet the same standards. The point I'm making is that the academic criticism of Bellisiles is questionable when you freely use a source that fabricates stories for the media and are not subject to that level of scrutiny.

No, I have not done research on why northern states also codified 2nd Amendment language, but if you'll allow me some speculation, I would welcome your comments (which btw I do appreciate).

In post-revolutionary America, different states faced different threats. In the case of Vermont and other northern border states, the British were still in Canada and considered a major threat. In other states, there was still on-going genocide of native tribes. While I suppose that would deflect the idea that the only reason it was included was to appease the southern states, it does not provide proof that: 1) The southern states would have signed on without it, 2) That state militias were a tool to preserve slavery, 3) That northern states would have not ratified the Constitution without it. I would also add that there was a significant amount of southern propaganda in the north about how dangerous fugitive slaves were.

My take from this is that fugitive slaves and slave rebellion may not have been the only reason for including the 2nd Amendment, but it was likely a significant motivator and sweetened the pot for southern states. I don't see much motivation for any state, in the context of late 18th century to oppose ratification of the 2nd Amendment and not create their own state militias. Why piss off Virginia for no gain?