Thread by @JMHendersonSr

So it started with this comment to a post on the #righttokeepandbeararms:

"People, our rights were given us by the #Constitution. Those rights you are talking about were NOT given by #God!"

There are folks who believe this claim to be true. For example, @ChrisCuomo, who famously declared on his news program, "our rights do not come from God." (He offered no explanation of why #ThomasJefferson was wrong to claim that they do, in the #DeclarationofIndependence.)

But the assertion that our rights come from the Constitution would be #foreign to those that drafted, debated, and ratified the #BillofRights:

The notion that the Constitution "gives" us #rights is simply wrong.

Here's a view of things expressed by the stalwart conservative Republican, #JFK in his #InauguralAddress:

"The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought

are still at issue around the globe the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."

You can find the entire speech here: davidstuff.com/usa/jfk-add.htm.

I don't know if this was omitted in your schooling or if you've forgotten it.

The thirteen original States preexisted the Constitution, and were joined in a Confederation organized under the Articles of Confederation.

You may examine a copy of the Articles of Confederation here:

avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/a….

The Articles became operative only when all Thirteen States agreed, Maryland being the last in 1781. While the Articles of Confederation created a central government, its ability to act was substantially hampered by its frame.

For example, to dispatch troops in response to #ShaysRebellion in New York required a vote by 9 of the 13 States, but first, the delegates to the #ConfederationCongress would have to assemble, and then that supermajority would have to be obtained.

That internal risk of riot and rebellion was not the only reason for concern on the part of many. Important issues remained after the Revolution: how to pay war debts, how to pay veterans for their service, how to conduct a national economy.

Here you can find just one of thousands of discussions of the problems experienced under the Articles of Confederation:

apsanet.org/imgtest/Origin….

Ultimately, delegates of the states met in Philadelphia in the Summer of 1787 to discuss amending the Articles of Confederation. (That was the original stated purpose of the 1787 meeting in Philadelphia.)

The delegates, however, removed from that purpose to a complete reformation of the National government into one with sufficient power to conduct the National affairs of the united States, while sufficiently restrained to leave the States free to continue in their existences.

The Convention produced the Constitution, which was then sent to the States for ratification. A handful of states immediately ratified, but then a roadblock was hit because Massachusetts objected to two problems with the Constitution:

first, a specific reservation of all powers not granted to the federal government to the States and to the people; second, protection from federal intrusion on basic political rights.

The impasse on these issues was broken with James Madison's promise that the first duty of the new Congress would be to propound a bill of Rights to the States for ratification.

While this proposal did not entirely allay the fears of anti-federalists, it did break the impasse and ratification efforts succeeded. That Constitution, as ratified, you can read here:

avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/u….

Madison kept his word, and the First Congress after Ratification propounded to the States a Bill of Rights. That document proposed twelve amendments to the Constitution. (The first two did not receive approval in the immediate aftermath.)

What we now call the First Amendment was, in fact, the third amendment contained in the Bill of Rights (you can see the actual Bill of Rights with all twelve proposed amendment here:

earlyamerica.com/earlya.../free…).

Notice, in reading that page, that those two amendments listed as the first and second amending articles are not what we think of as the First and Second Amendment.

In case you conclude that all this babble is from uber conservatives and NOT to BE BELIEVED, here is an ACLU website discussion of the Bill of Rights that explains the theory of rights:

"The rights that the Constitution's framers wanted to protect from government abuse were referred to in the Declaration of Independence as "unalienable rights." They were also called "natural" rights, and to James Madison, they were "the great rights of mankind."

Although it is commonly thought that we are entitled to free speech because the First Amendment gives it to us, this country's original citizens believed that as human beings, they were entitled to free speech, and they invented the First Amendment in order to protect it.

The entire Bill of Rights was created to protect rights the original citizens believed were naturally theirs, including:

"FREEDOM OF RELIGION
The right to exercise one's own religion, or no religion, free from any government influence or compulsion

"FREEDOM OF SPEECH, PRESS, PETITION & ASSEMBLY
Even unpopular expression is protected from government suppression or censorship

"PRIVACY
The right to be free of unwarranted and unwanted government intrusion into one's personal and private affairs, papers, and possessions.

"DUE PROCESS OF LAW
The right to be treated fairly by the government whenever the loss of liberty or property is at stake.

"EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW
The right to be treated equally before the law, regardless of social status"

You can see that discussion for yourself at aclu.org/racial.../bill…

@threadreaderapp unroll