Samuel E. Cornish Quotes

The Confederacy was looking to develop sympathy for the their cause, even within the Catholic Church which many Southern Protestants were very prejudiced against. Davis, himself, however, had attended Catholic schools as a youth and almost converted to Catholicism. Reading this letter today we are fascinated by the fact that Davis could ensure the Pope that “everyone” in the Confederacy could enjoy “temorial” rights and also the “free exercise of his religion.” Blacks, a very large proportion of the Southern population, could of course enjoy neither. Davis did not even cover himself by saying :every citizen”. He said “everyone” an absurdity even then, but Jefferson, an otherwise intelligent man, was so prejudiced that he did not consciously realize that he was lying to the Pope whom he respected greatly.

Hamilton acknowledged that the major public objection to the new U. S. Constitution was its lack of a Bill of Rights, which Hamilton argued was unnecessary.

See Rufus King for the opposite position. {610244}

Many New Yorkers and others felt that since the attack on the World Trade Center was made in the name of Islam, the mosque and commuity center should be built in another location further from Ground Zero. Ellison was debating someone who argued that the Mosque should not be built so that sensitivity can be shown for those New Yorkers who lost relatives and friends in the attack of September 11. Rather than insist on their Constitutional rights, the Muslim leadership of the project, moved the location somewhat further away from Ground Zero.

There are some who believe that in a time of national emergency the government has the right to suspend the bill of rights or any other constitutional provision. This view is typically held by most foreign governments and they do this all the time. However in America, there is a general consensus that emergency does not vitiate the constitution. However even President Abraham Lincoln tried to suspend aspects of the Bill of Rights during a national crisis.

Arguing for a Bill of Rights to assuage public objections to the original Constitution:

See George Mason for the contrary view. {606646}

The first Civil Rights Act {587712} was passed a few months before and has some of the same language as Congress wanted to make the laws very clear. The Southern Rebels who insisted on their right to have guns during Reconstruction, viciously denied that same right to the newly freed slaves. Sickles tried to remedy this, but the KKK and other terrorists intimidated most of the Blacks into not using the right that they had. Later, they would do that with the right to vote. In January, the Commanding General in charge of South Carolina had issued an order protecting the rights of Blacks to have guns {629894}. This law applied that to the entire country. The Southerners have always supported the 2nd Amendment except when Blacks wanted to have arms.

The Southern Rebels who insisted on their right to have guns during Reconstruction, viciously denied that same right to the newly freed slaves. Sickles tried to remedy this, but the KKK and other terrorists intimidated most of the Blacks into not using the right that they had. Later, they would do that with the right to vote.