Why did the founding fathers include the 2nd amendment in the constitution? Why was the 2nd amendment so important that a group of people thought it necessary to guarantee?
Beyond doubt, in all the discussions and debates on the Constitution, the "advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation" (James Madison, 1788) was intended to be preserved in order to leave the People the power to throw off any government that might become tyrannical (See The Federalist XLVI). The "militia" was defined as "the body of the people capable of bearing arms" (Ratification of the Constitution by the State of New York, similarly Ratification of the Constitution by the State of Virginia). The Second Amendment was referring to an individual right: "Congress shall never disarm any citizen, unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion." (Ratifications of the Constitution by the States of New Hampshire and North Carolina). "That the people have a right to keep and bear arms" (Ratification of the Constitution by the States of South Carolina and Virginia). There is much more, all coming down to the same thing. I suggest you purchase The Debate on the Constitution, published in two volumes in 1993 by The Library of America. It contains the federalist and antifederalist speeches, articles, and letters, the debates in the press and in private correspondence, and the debates in the state ratifying conventions, during the struggle over ratification.
The Founding Fathers?
Yep, I know this. Although, just to be certain Benjamin Franklin is one of those guys in history who can be somewhat of an enigma on matters of religion. He went to dozens of churches and other religious groups in the colonies, including meeting with deists. He was a member of a church, too, in Philadelphia, yet because he was socializing at other religious groups meetings, well he didn't attend as often as most of those who went there. Thomas Jefferson even went through the New Testament and took out all the stories of "miracles" that could not be scientifically proven. It's called the Jefferson Bible today and you can still purchase it. And the Constitution only religious line is "In the year of our Lord". The Declaration of Independence mentions Creator, etc, but never really tries to imply that they are directly refering to Christianity. They were very clever founders. And oddly the great many who go around claiming that America was founded as a Christian nation are often from denominations or groups that for the first part of our nation's history advocated a seperation of church and state...why? because they were being persecuted by the larger majority denominations of Christianity who saw them as a threat and wanted to put a stop to them. If it wasn't for our founder's wise vision...many of these groups would have disappeared, their religion (even though a denomination of Christianity) declare heretical and outlawed and practitioneers thrown in jail. No wonder they fought so hard for public opinion to favor the seperation of church and state!
What kind of government was established after the American Revolution?
The first government of the original thirteen colonies was established by the Articles of Confederation, under which there was a Congress but no president and no judiciary. The result was that each colony had these powers:1 To declare war and make peace.2 To coin and borrow money3 To detail with foreign countries and sign treaties4 To operate post officesThe flip side, however, was that:1 The national government could not force the states to obey its laws.2 It did not have the power to tax3 It did not have the power to enforce laws4 Congress lacked strong and steady leadership5 There was no national army or navy6 There was no system of national courts7 Each state could issue its own paper money8 Each state could put tariffs on trade between states. When I hear politicians say that the founding fathers believed in a weak federal government, I want to ask them if they made a habit of sleeping through American history class. First, the founding fathers who drafted the Constitution did not think, write, and vote as a solid bloc. Abolitionists who wanted to outlaw slavery didn't get their way, and Southern states who wanted slaves counted as persons in the census wound up with only the so-called three-fifths compromise. The bicameral Congress is another compromise. It means that small states who didn't want to be outnumbered by the larger states have a Senate which has two members from each state regardless of population; and that large states have a House of Representatives which allots members to states according to population. And so on.Second, the founding fathers tried a weak federal government with the Articles of Confederation. The Articles proved so unworkable that a mere six years after they were ratified, the Constitutional Convention was held. The delegates tried at first to merely revise the Articles, but they gave this up and began to write the Constitution instead.