2007-07-05 16:07:23 · 14 answers · asked by goalie4413 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
By looking at the world they were in and looking at the writings they did as well. Such as the 2nd amendment on right to bear arms. Benjamin Franklin wrote, "Liberty is two wolves and a sheep having a vote and a well armed sheep contesting the results."
2007-07-05 16:13:24 · answer #1 · answered by JFra472449 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
There are lots of things that the Founding Fathers wrote that give us insight into what their intent was. Where the problem lies is trying to figure out what their intent would have been in situations that they would have had no concept of. I'm not entirely sure that you can say that the Founding Fathers would have felt the same about a shoulder mounted grenade launcher as they did about musket ownership
Another problem relying on original intent is that there are cases where we have decided that the original intent was just plain wrong. Their vision of "We the People" didn't include anyone besides white men, who owned property. Their original intent was that women should not vote and black people should be slaves. Our values changed and we decided that "We the People" did actually include women, former slave, and native Americans.
The beauty of what the Founding Fathers wrote was that they had a vision, which as mortal they didn't always live up to, that has been able to outlive that time and place with only a handful of amendments.
2007-07-05 23:43:29 · answer #2 · answered by katydid13 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Actually, their intent isn't as important as some make it out to be.
The Constitution itself is written in fairly straightforward language. It says what it says, and regardless of intent, means exactly what it says, no more and no less. Interestingly enough, it even allows for "Amendments" should we decide that we don't LIKE what it says, regardless of whether we're interpreting their intent incorrectly or not.
That being said, it's not real hard to gauge their intent. All you have to do is read the Declaration of Independence, and consider what their primary fear must have been.
2007-07-05 23:22:53 · answer #3 · answered by open4one 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There are volumes and volumes of published works by most of the founders, which will put everything in context .
They didn't just write one short document (the Constitution and Bill of Rights) in a vacuum and leave nothing else to discuss. I would say that their writings of the time are more useful and interesting than anything modern politicians have written. The founding fathers were true scholars, knew multiple foreign languages, were prodigious writers, wrote their OWN speeches, and were true leaders. There hasn't been a president on their level of intelligence and thought since perhaps Teddy Roosevelt.
2007-07-05 23:18:18 · answer #4 · answered by PH 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Just read the Constitution and Bill of Rights. You'll easily get the point. Better yet, read the Declaration of Independence first, that will give you a better viewpoint of why they made up these important documents for us.
2007-07-05 23:41:36 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Read the Federalist Papers (starting with #10). In any library, or on Amazon. Online, you can find them--plus commentaries on the Constitution--at house.gov. Click on education.
2007-07-05 23:41:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
well, you can look at what the wrote and said in the context of their other writings and usually get a pretty good idea...
but, I don't think "because it was the origninal intent of the founding fathers" is a very good excuse many times for any action... as they didn't seem to have a problem with slavery and other things that we consider to be social injustices...
2007-07-05 23:21:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Flip a coin.
No Just joking..
Well that's why we have congress, political parties, freedom of speech. So we can discuss these issues and utilize them to the best of our ability.
But considering how we just argue and rarely work together, I say always carry some change with you.
2007-07-05 23:11:01 · answer #8 · answered by C M 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You just have to ask any bible bashing, gun loving, minority hating, nation dividing neo-con. Somehow they can always tell you exactly what the fouding fathers had in mind on any issue - and for some reason it is always exactly the way they feel.
2007-07-05 23:25:11 · answer #9 · answered by Sageandscholar 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
One thing is for sure! They all believed in, and governed by the principles and Law of Almighty God!!
There's a good site you can go to, and research, I've provided.
2007-07-05 23:21:58 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋