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When Virginia finally ratified, they didn't modify the words. The words were the same from years earlier.

I read her book, by the way; I ended up also reading two others over the last week that I think were more compelling, and made her points in a more definitive way. She's totally right that, especially in the Carolinas, slave revolts were one fear that led people to want guns; in fact, a part of the revolution becoming so bloody there was due to that fear; the British governor took the powder away.

The people interpreting her (this was not something she said, at all) are not correct in thinking that this created the full foundation of antifederalist thought, but there was definitely an undercurrent of it in the deep south and to a lesser extent in Virginia.

Unfortunately, she misrepresented some things that appeared to support her conclusion, including the data around gun ownership in the 18th century. No fabrications, just not telling the whole picture. It's a problem endemic to pop history.

I'm still going through my old notes from the letters between the major political players from 1785-1790 and looking for references there so I'm not ready to concede the Henry stuff or that this is the reasoning behind the 2nd's inclusion.




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