January 9, 2013

• Next to the Bible, the U. S. Constitution must be the most cherry-picked and mis-understood document in existence.

  The Wichita Eagle’s Opinion Line and Letters to the Editor often make me wonder if people were paying attention during any of their school years.

  In a recent letter, a man named Bob Wine, of Wichita, wrote a letter to the editor which said, in part: “When the Second Amendment was written, this nation was in the midst of a revolution to over-throw British rule and establish our nation and the foundation of a new government.”

  George Mason was the principle author of the Bill of Rights, and his list included twelve rights. What we now regard as the second amendment, was fourth in Mason‘s list, What we know as the first amendment, was third in Mason‘s list. But, by the time we had a constitution, and subsequently a Bill of Rights, the revolutionary war had been over for 8 years. The war ended in 1783. The Treaty of Paris was concluded that same year, but it wasn’t until 1784 that both England and the United States ratified that treaty. It was our Confederation Congress that was in operation at the end of the war, and it was the Confederation Congress that ratified the treaty.

  Before we had our Bill of Rights, we first had to have a new constitution to replace the our first constitution, the Articles of Confederation.

  The ratification of the Bill of Rights, which comprised the first ten amendments to the constitution, occurred in 1791, almost a decade after the cessation of hostilities between Britain and America.

  I admonish Mr. Wine, and all others, to learn history if history is the cornerstone of their argument.

  • 11:09 am
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