[necessary rant]The further we get, intellectually, from the revolution the more control government will assume. The counter-revolutionary document of 1787 left people remarkably free by todays standards but it was a far cry from what was fought for. In the intervening years we've chosen government power over freedom countless times, like it or not the Constitution became a living document and its original amending process was supplanted by more responsive (to whom?) democratic processes with predicted and predictable results. This is all to get to the point that the revolutionaries would be appalled by the Bill of Rights restrictions but the reactionaries would be proud of their work. What do you suppose the smuggler Hancock would have thought about the idea that his merchantman could only carry muskets? I suspect folks like Hamilton would be very pleased with America as a global mercantilist empire with a stable sheeplike electorate but a visionary like Jefferson might have cause to feel shame for a people who neglect hearth and home to serve our masters view of freedom.[/rant]
I feel better now.
