Feb 04 2013
The 2nd Amendment and Slave Rebellions
In the US constitutional ratifying convention in Virginia in 1789, there were objections made by Patrick Henry and George Mason in particular, that Article 1 Section 8 gave the Federal Government the power to control to what extent the State militia’s were armed. And their concern was that Virginia’s State militia which had a slave patrol component was one of the principal tools used to put down slave rebellions. Pouring over the first hand documents from 1789 that detail the first Congress’ debates on arms and militia, what eventually became the 2nd Amendment, you’ll see a constant theme: the second Amendment was created to protect the American Government.
GUESTS: Thom Hartmann interviews Junius P. Rodriguez, history professor at Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois. Rodriguez is an expert on the history of slavery in the United States as well as the world.
Read more about Professor Rodriguez here.
SONALI KOLHATKAR IS ON MATERNITY LEAVE.
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