Attorney General John Ashcroft's statement declaring that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, irrespective of any ties to a state militia, has raised a debate over the Founding Fathers" true intentions for the Second Amendment. Opponents to Ashcroft's policy statement argue that this decision reverses years of legal precedent and contradicts the true meaning of the right to bear arms. ... Samuel Adams best sums up this idea in his statement, "the constitution shall never be constructed to authorize Congress to infringe to prevent the people...

• Word Count: 1648
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Throughout time there has been a constant struggle between the ideas of social control and the rights of the individual. Even at the present time there are conflicting opinions on how much power the government should have and how much power the individual should have over themselves. John Locke, lik...

• Word Count: 2343
• Approx Pages: 9

The result of these two separate interpretations was a brief statement of explanation dealing with the ideological, based on the study of Revolutionary writings and their antecedents, and the political, defined as the history of the ways men have used the institutions of government and the struggles for authority. ... In the years to come England would experience Monmouth's Rebellion and then approximately a decade later what came to be known as the Glorious Revolution. ...

• Word Count: 2349
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate