The Founders' Second Amendment
Page 47
83. Abbé de Mably, Remarks Concerning the Government and the Laws of the United States of America: In Four Letters, Addressed to Mr. Adams (Dublin: Moncrieffe, Jenkin, 1785), 166.
84. The Perpetual Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, From the Establishment of Its Constitution in the Year 1780, To the End of the Year 1800 (1801), vol. 1, at 346.
85. Ibid., vol. 1, at 366.
86. “Scribble Scrabble,” Cumberland Gazette (Portland, Me.), December 8, 1786.
87. “Senex,” Cumberland Gazette, January 12, 1787.
88. “Scribble-Scrabble,” Cumberland Gazette, January 26, 1787.
89. Jedidiah Morse, The American Universal Geography (Boston: Isaiah Thomas & Ebenezer T. Andrews, 1793), vol. 1, at 379.
90. Commonwealth v. Blanding, 20 Mass. (3 Pick.) 304, 314, 15 Am. Dec. 214 (1825).
91. Sources and Documents of U. S. Constitutions, William Finley Swindler ed. (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1973–1979), vol. 6, at 342.
92. Constitutions of New Hampshire (undated microfilm, Library of Congress), 155.
93. An Address of the Convention . . . To the Inhabitants (Exeter, N.H., 1782), 10.
94. Ibid., 14.
95. Robert Allen Rutland, The Birth of the Bill of Rights (New York: Collier Books, 1962), 81; Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, Merrill Jensen and Robert A. Becker eds. (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1976), vol. 1, at 858–59.
96. New-Hampshire Gazette and Historical Chronicle (Portsmouth), January 6, 1775, at 1, col. 1 (Governor’s Proclamation); M.L. Brown, Firearms in Colonial America: The Impact on History and Technology, 1492–1792, (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1980), 295.
97. New Hampshire Constitution, Pt. I, Art. XIII (1784).
98. Ibid., Art. XIII.
99. Ibid., Art. VI.
100. Ibid., Art. XXX.
101. The Perpetual Laws of the State of New Hampshire (Portsmouth, 1789), 115.
102. Ibid., 116. Certain government officials and students, Quakers, Native Americans, and African Americans were excepted from the militia.
103. Ibid., 117.
104. Ibid.
105. Ibid.
106. Ibid., 184.
107. Ibid., 184–85.
108. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, John P. Kaminski and Gaspare J. Saladino eds. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1995), vol. 18, at 188.
109. Sources of American Independence, Howard H. Peckham ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), 150.
110. David M. Roth and Freeman Meyer, From Revolution to Constitution: Connecticut 1763 to 1818 (Chester, Conn.: Pequot Press, 1975), 25; Melbert B. Cary, The Connecticut Constitution (New Haven, Conn.: The Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor, Co., 1900), 2–3.
111. R.R. Hinman, A General View of Connecticut at the Commencement of the Revolutionary War (1842), in Chronology and Documentary Handbook to the State of Connecticut, Mary L. French ed. (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana, 1973), 40–50.
112. Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, From May 1775, to June, 1776, inclusive, at 17, 291 (Hartford, Conn.: Brown & Parsons, n.d.). Council of Safety minutes mostly concern manufacture of gunpowder and plans of resistance. Ibid., 451 ff. In 1775 Connecticut had numerous gunsmiths, and a state bounty of five shillings per firearm greatly encouraged manufacture. David M. Roth, Connecticut: A Bicentennial History (New York: W. W. Norton, 1979), 101.
113. Ibid., 156.
114. Ibid., 22.
115. Acts and Laws of the State of Connecticut (Hartford: Elisha Babcock, 1784), 144.
116. Ibid., 150.
117. Ibid., 151.
118. Richard Price, Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution (London and Boston, 1784), 16.
119. Ibid., 58.
120. Ibid., 63.
121. Timothy Dwight, Travels in New England and New York (London: W. Baynes & Son, 1823), vol. 4, 335.
122. Sources of American Independence, Peckham ed., vol. 1, at 165.
123. Ibid., vol. 1, at 176.
124. Newport Mercury, March 27, 1775, at 2, col. 3.
125. David S. Lovejoy, Rhode Island Politics and the American Revolution, 1760–1776 (Providence: Brown University Press, 1958), 173, 188.
126. Newport Mercury, August 14, 1775, at 3, col. 2.
127. Public Laws of the State of Rhode Island (Providence: Carter and Wilkinson, 1798), 429-30.
128. Ibid., 426.
129. Ibid., 5.
130. Ibid., 612–14.
131. Ibid., 593.
132. Ibid., 583.
133. Thomas Jefferson, The Papers of Thomas Jeffirson, Julian P. Boyd ed. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1950), vol. 2, at 444.
134. Ibid., vol. 2, at 443–44. Emphasis added.
135. Act of 1772, William W. Hening, Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia from the First Session of the Legislature in the Year 1619, vol. 8, at 593.
136. Blackstone, Commentaries, vol. 2, at *341.
137. Jefferson’s Bill for Establishing a Manufactory of Arms, which defined “arms” as muskets, carbines, pistols, and swords, passed in 1779. Thomas Jefferson, The Papers of Thomas Jeffirson, Julian P. Boyd ed. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1951), vol. 3, at 132, 135.
138. “But one species of firearms, the pistol, is never called a gun.” Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (New York: S. Converse, 1828), definition of “gun.”
139. Jefferson, The Papers of Thomas Jeffirson, vol. 2, at 444.
140. Ibid.
141. The Acts of 1748 (Hening, Statutes at Large, vol. 6, 109–10) and 1792 (Hening, Statutes at Large, vol. 12, at 123) stated: “No negro or mulatto shall keep or carry any gun, powder, shot, club, or other weapon whatever [under penalty of 39 lashes) . . . provided nonetheless, that every free negro or mulatto, being a housekeeper, may be permitted to keep one gun, powder and shot,” and a “bond or free negro” may “keep and use” a gun by license at frontier plantations.
142. Act of 1785, Hening, Statutes at Large, vol. 12, at 182.
143. Jefferson, The Papers of Thomas Jeffirson, vol. 2, at 663.
CHAPTER 8
1. See generally Forrest McDonald, Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1985).
2. The Papers of George Mason, Roberr A. Rutland ed. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1970), vol. 3, at 896–97.
3. Jonathan Elliot ed., Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution in the Convention Held at Philadelphia . . . Vol. V. Supplementary to Elliot’s Debates (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1845), 172.
4. Ibid., 440.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid., 443.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid., 444.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid., 445.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid., 464.
17. Ibid., 464–65.
18. Ibid., 465.
19. Ibid.
20. Stephen P. Halbrook, A Right to Bear Arms (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, Inc., 1989), 26, 32, 46.
21. Elliot, Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution in the Convention Held at Philadelphia . . . Vol. V. Supplementary to Elliot’s Debates, 466.
22. Ibid., 466–67.
23. U.S. Constitution, Arr. I, § 8.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid., Arr. II, § 2.
26. Ibid., Arr. I, § 10.
27. Elliot, Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution in the Convention Held at Philadelphia . . . Vol. V. Supplementary to Elliot’s Debates, 544.
28. Ibid., 545.
29. Ibid.
30. U.S. Constitution, Arr. IV, § 2.
31. Ibid., Art. I, §§ 9, 10.
32. Ibid., Art. III, § 2.
&nbs
p; 33. Elliot, Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution in the Convention Held at Philadelphia . . . Vol. V. Supplementary to Elliot’s Debates, 538.
34. Ibid., 538.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid., 545.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid., 554.
40. Ibid., 565.
41. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, John P. Kaminski and Gas pare J. Saladino eds. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1988), vol. 8, at 43.
42. Ibid., vol. 8, at 45.
43. Richard M. Rollins, The Long journey of Noah Webster (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1980), 52–53.
44. Ibid., 51–52.
45. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, John P. Kaminski & Gaspare J. Saladino eds. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1981), vol. 13, at 405–6.
46. Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution (Philadelphia, 1787), 43.
47. The Federalist, Nos. 29 (Hamilton) and 45 (Madison), in The Federalist Papers (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, n.d.), 185, 299.
48. John S. Morgan, Noah Webster (New York: Mason/Charter Publishers Inc., 1975), 114.
49. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, Merrill Jensen ed. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976), vol. 2, at 128.
50. Ibid., vol. 2, at 181.
51. Tench Coxe, “An American Citizen IV” (October 21, 1787), in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 13, at 433.
52. Ibid., vol. 13, at 435.
53. Letter of October 21, 1787, in ibid., vol. 13, at 437.
54. Letter of October 26, 1787, in ibid.
55. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2, at 166.
56. Ibid., vol. 2, at 158.
57. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 13, at 337–41.
58. Ibid., vol. 13, at 387.
59. Ibid., vol. 13, at 390–91. “Cincinnatus,” apparently Richard Henry Lee or Arthur Lee, wrote in the New York Journal in November 1787 that the Grecian and Roman republics kept no standing armies and that:
in the free Swiss Cantons, no standing army, was ever, or is now permitted; no, sir, in all these great and glorious republics, though surrounded with enemies, their military array was occasional, or at the utmost, annual; nor was there formerly, nor is there now, in the Swiss Cantons, any more appearance of strength kept up in time of peace, than their militia gives: and yet they are free and formidable.
Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, John P. Kaminski ed. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1983), vol. 14, at 127. See also ibid., vol. 14, at 186–87.
60. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 13, at 486, 490.
61. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, John P. Kaminski and Gas pare J. Saladino eds. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1984), vol. 15, at 104.
62. Ibid., vol. 15, at 318.
63. Ibid.
64. William Blackstone, Commentaries, St. George Tucker ed. (Philadelphia: William Young Birch and Abraham Small, 1803), vol. 1, at 332.
65. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 15, at 319.
66. Ibid.
67. Ibid., vol. 15, at 320.
68. Ibid., vol. 15, at 479.
69. Ibid., vol. 15, at 488–89.
70. Ibid., vol. 15, at 492–93.
71. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, John P. Kaminski and Gaspare J. Saladino eds. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1995), vol. 18, at 127.
72. Ibid., vol. 18, at 128.
73. Ibid., vol. 18, at 129–30.
74. Ibid., vol. 18, at 130.
75. Ibid.
76. Ibid., vol. 18, at 131.
77. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 14, at 15–18. See also Robert H. Webking, “Melancton Smith and the Letters from the Federal Farmer,” William & Mary Quarterly (July 1987), vol. 3.44, no. 3, at 510.
78. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 14, at 27–28.
79. Ibid., vol. 14, at 38–39.
80. Ibid., vol. 14, at 45–46.
81. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, John P. Kaminski and Gas pare J. Saladino eds. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1995), vol. 17, at 265–68.
82. Ibid., vol. 17, at 273.
83. Ibid., vol. 17, at 274.
84. Ibid., vol. 17, at 343.
85. Ibid., vol. 17, at 346.
86. Ibid., vol. 17, at 347–50.
87. Ibid., vol. 17, at 362. Also in Additional Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republican (New York: Thomas Greenleaf, 1788), 169.
88. Ibid., vol. 17, at 363. Also in Additional Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republican, 170. Emphasis added.
89. David McCullough, John Adams (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001), 378.
90. E.g., Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2, at 160.
91. John Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (London, 1787), vol. 1, at 28–30.
92. Ibid., vol. 1, at 38–39.
93. John Adams, A Defina of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (1787–88), vol. 3, at 471–72. Newspapers of the time alluded to Rome’s disarming of conquered peoples. The Massachusetts Centinel, April 11, 1787 recalled “the old Roman Senator, who after his country subdued the commonwealth of Carthage, had made them deliver up . . . their arms . . . and rendered them unable to protect themselves . . . . “ Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 13, at 79.
94. Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, vol. 3, at 474.
95. Ibid., vol.3, at 475.
96. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 14, at 464–65.
97. Thomas Jefferson, Writings, Merrill D. Peterson ed. (New York: The Library of America, 1984), 816–17.
98. Jefferson’s Memorandum Books, James A. Bear, Jr., and Lucia C. Stanton eds. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997), 615–16.
99. Ibid., 615 n.55 ; Ashley Halsey, Jr., “Jefferson’s Beloved Guns,” American Rifleman (November 1969), 17, 20; Halsey, “How Thomas Jefferson’s Pistols Were Restored,” American Rifleman (November 1969), 21.
100. Jefferson’s Memorandum Books, 675.
101. Jefferson, Writings, 215.
102. Ibid., 216.
103. Ashley Halsey, Jr., “George Washington’s Favorite Guns,” American Rifleman (February 1968), 23.
CHAPTER 9
1. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, Merrill Jensen ed. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976), vol. 2, at 209.
2. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, Merrill Jensen ed. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976), vol. 3, at 41.
3. Wilson was quoted as stating about the Constitution in debate on November 24, 1787: “In its principles, it is surely democratical; for, however wide and various the firearms of power may appear, they may all be traced to one source, the people.” Ibid., vol. 2, at 336. However, two longer versions of the speech use the term “streams of power,” suggesting that “firearms of power” was a misprint. Ibid., vol. 2, at 349, 363.
4. Jonathan Elliot ed., The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1836), vol. 2, at 435–36.
5. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2, at 441.
6. Elliot ed., Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, vol. 2, at 453–54.
7. Documentary History of the Ratificat
ion of the Constitution, vol. 2, at 508–9.
8. Elliot ed., Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, vol. 2, at 495.
9. Ibid., vol. 2, at 521.
10. Ibid., vol. 2, at 522.
11. Ibid., vol. 2, at 537.
12. Ibid., vol. 2, at 540.
13. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2, at 597–99.
14. Ibid., vol. 2, at 599–600.
15. Ibid., vol. 2, at 589–91, 600.
16. Ibid., vol. 2, at 617.
17. Ibid., vol. 2, at 597, 623.
18. Ibid., vol. 2, at 623–24.
19. Pennsylvania Declaration of Rights, Art. XIII (1776).
20. William Blackstone, Commentaries, St. George Tucker ed. (Philadelphia: William Young Birch and Abraham Small, 1803), vol. 2, at 412–13.
21. Cf. Paul Finkelman, “A Well Regulated Militia”: The Second Amendment in Historical Perspective 76, Chi.–Kent L. Rev. 195, 206–09 (2000)(arguing that the differences in the Minority proposal and what became the Second Amendment indicate that the latter was not intended to protect individual rights).
22. Pennsylvania Constitution, Art. I, § 43 (1776).
23. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2, at 598, 624.
24. Burton Alva Konkle, George Bryan and the Constitution of Pennsylvania, 1731-1791 (Philadelphia: William J. Campbell, 1922), 258.
25. Ibid., 309–38.
26. Ibid., 630.
27. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2, at 598, 624.
28. Ibid., vol. 2, at 638.
29. Independent Gazetteer, February 11, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2 (microfilm supplement), at 1695.
30. Pennsylvania Gazette, February 20, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2, at 439.
31. Pennsylvania Gazette, February 20, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2 (microfilm supplement), at 1778–1780.
32. Philadelphia Freeman’s Journal, April 23, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, John P. Kaminski and Gas pare J. Saladino eds. (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1995), vol. 17, at 137.
33. Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, Thomas Nugent, trans. (1899), vol. 2, at 79–80.
34. Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, vol. 2 (microfilm supplement), at 2483.