Letter: Second Amendment tied to Southern slave patrols


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Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2013, 3:31 pm
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Folks often wonder how the Second Amendment made it into our Constitution. It appears the states owning slaves made that a requirement before they would consent to sign the document.

In Georgia, for example, a generation before the American Revolution, laws were passed in 1755 and 1757 that required all plantation owners or their male white employees to be members of the Georgia Militia, and for those armed militia members to make monthly inspections of the quarters of all slaves in the state.

The law defined which counties had which armed militias and even required armed militia members to keep a keen eye out for slaves who may be planning uprisings. This is why we must keep our powder dry and our guns at the ready as the slaves may rise again.

LaVerne Linnenkamp,
Silvis



















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