Historian Falsely Claims The Second Amendment Was Created To Protect Slavery – The Federalist
After spending decades assailing the Second Amendment rights of American citizens, cultural Marxists believe theyve finally found the perfect line of attack against the constitutional right to keep and bear arms: racism.
Just like every other aspect of the American Founding, the ratification of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is rooted in nothing more than white supremacy. Or at least, thats what scholar Carol Anderson wants you to believe.
In her latest book, The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America, Anderson argues that the well regulated Militia inscribed in the Second Amendment was created to provide states with a mechanism to quell potential slave uprisings.
It was in response to the concerns coming out of the Virginia ratification convention for the Constitution, led by Patrick Henry and George Mason, that a militia that was controlled solely by the federal government would not be there to protect the slave owners from an enslaved uprising, she told NPR. And James Madison crafted that language in order to mollify the concerns coming out of Virginia and the anti-Federalists, that they would still have full control over their state militias and those militias were used in order to quell slave revolts.
Anderson claimed the Second Amendment provided the cover, the assurances that Patrick Henry and George Mason needed, that the militias would not be controlled by the federal government, but that they would be controlled by the states and at the beck and call of the states to be able to put down these uprisings.
While Anderson argues that her book isnt anti-gun, her statements made to CNN say otherwise. When asked about the recent announcement that the Supreme Court would pick up a gun rights case, Anderson pivoted to gun control, asserting that opposition to such measures is likely based on white Americans fear of black Americans.
After Sandy Hook, nothing happened, she said. How could that be? That could be because of this underlying fear that if there are real gun safety laws then whites will be left defenseless against these black people.
Anderson also stated her belief that recent efforts in Texas to pass constitutional carry legislation are a result of the growing diversity of Texas and predicts that the state will become a slaughterhouse if the bill becomes law. The law has already passed the Texas legislature and is headed to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott, who has already pledged to sign it.
Not only are Andersons historical claims entirely inaccurate, but the publication of her book represents the larger, continued effort by American leftists to degrade and distort the American founding. The entire premise of the Second Amendment was not to protect the institution of slavery as Anderson suggests, but rather to provide the American citizenry with a necessary tool to prevent encroachments by their federal government.
The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, stated James Madison in June 1789. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country.
Samuel Adams made the same sentiments a year prior during the Massachusetts ratifying convention, where he proclaimed the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of The United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms
Having recently lived under the thumb of Great Britain, the Founders understood that the capacity for government to infringe on the rights of its people was universal and that such tyranny could certainly exist in America. As a result, the Founders viewed the individual right to keep and bear arms as essential in preserving the freedom and liberty of the American citizenry.
Andersons attempt to make racism the reason behind the establishment of the Second Amendment falls in lockstep with Marxist curricula like the New York Times 1619 Project. The goal isnt merely to just falsify our history, but to do so in a way that breeds further division within the country. Rather than divide us by economic status or class, this kind of racial Marxism seeks to pit Americans against one another based on race.
Ultimately, the propagation of such an ideology will sow discord throughout the nation, all the while allowing power-hungry politicians and a ruling class to assume more power and control of our lives.
Shawn Fleetwood is an intern at The Federalist and a student attending the University of Mary Washington.
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