# “We the People” Was NEVER a Borderless Phrase! | PART 2 Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnLdAtVz2vo Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/cnLdAtVz2vo Generated: 2025-12-23T18:33:38.384+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview The historical record demonstrates that the Founding generation understood “the people” in the Constitution, including the Second Amendment, to refer exclusively to American citizens who consented to be governed, explicitly excluding aliens and those who had not taken the oath of citizenship, which is supported by Federalist Papers and state constitutions that drew a rigid division between citizens and others. **Key Points:** - Founding generation understood “the people” in the Constitution as referring exclusively to citizens consenting to be governed, as evidenced in early state constitutions and Federalist Papers. - Justice Story is quoted stating the right to bear arms is the "birth-right" of the yeomanry of America, secured for citizens, not aliens. - The Federalist Papers explicitly distinguished between citizens and aliens, with Federalist No. 57 emphasizing the capacity of the people to choose their own rulers, who must be citizens. - The majority opinion in the case being discussed cites historical evidence showing that concepts like 'citizen' and 'American' were used synonymously in representative government contexts, unlike 'alien' or 'foreigner'. - Linguistic analysis of founding-era texts confirms that usage of "the people" correlated with terms like 'citizen(s)' and 'American(s)', but rarely with terms related to non-participants like 'alien(s)' or 'foreigner(s)'. - Anti-Federalists, like those in the Pennsylvania Convention, demanded guarantees that Congress would never disarm any citizen except those engaged in actual rebellion, reinforcing the idea that the right was limited to citizens. - The analysis suggests that the Founding generation's understanding of "the people" was connected to American citizenship, supporting the exclusion of non-citizens from the rights protected by the Second Amendment. ![Screenshot at 00:04: The speaker highlights text referencing the Founding generation's understanding that the right to bear arms belonged exclusively to those who had consented to the new government, emphasizing the exclusivity of "citizens" in the context of self-governance.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/cnLdAtVz2vo/00-00-04.jpg) **Context:** This video segment continues an analysis (Part 2) discussing the historical understanding of the phrase “We the People” as used in the founding documents, particularly in relation to the Second Amendment. The speaker, Andrew Branca, references historical sources like the Federalist Papers, state constitutions (like Vermont's), and commentary from founding figures such as James Madison and Justice Joseph Story to argue that the term “the people” was never intended to be borderless or include non-citizens like aliens or illegal immigrants. ## Detailed Analysis The speaker continues arguing that the Founders consistently used "the people" to refer to the collective body of citizens who consented to govern themselves, tracing this concept from the colonial period through the founding generation. He cites early references showing that British rights of "subjects" became American rights of "citizens," collectively referred to as "the people." After the Revolution, the term "the people" continued to refer exclusively to citizens who consented to be governed, granting them the right to bear arms for self-governance. James Madison is quoted stating that the people were the "fountain of all power," and their participation legitimized the Constitution. The speaker references George Washington's Farewell Address, jointly authored by Washington, Madison, and Hamilton, which articulated this view by stating the basis of the political system is the right of the people to make and alter their constitutions of government. Furthermore, state constitutions like Vermont's in 1777 confirmed that rights belonged to individuals who composed it, and that if great ends of government were not obtained, the people have a right by common consent to change it. The speaker notes that these early courts and documents drew a rigid distinction between citizens and aliens/foreigners. The analysis cites corpus linguistics data confirming that usage of "the people" in founding-era texts correlated strongly with terms like "citizen(s)" and "American(s)" but weakly with terms like "alien(s)" or "foreigner(s)". The speaker further notes that Anti-Federalists, like Tench Coxe, also believed the right to bear arms belonged to citizens, not aliens, reinforcing the idea that the Second Amendment right was reserved for citizens alone. ### The Founding Generation's View of 'The People' - Founders continued to use 'the people' to refer to the collective body of citizens; Founding generation understood the right to bear arms and self-governance as belonging exclusively to those who consented to the new government - Only citizens who consented to be governed could claim the rights necessary to govern themselves. ### Historical Context from Founding Documents - The colonial period established building blocks of the right to bear arms; British rights of 'subjects' became American rights of 'citizens'; Founders viewed 'the people' as responsible for legitimating democratic government, with James Madison citing the people as the 'fountain of all power'. ### George Washington's Farewell Address - The clearest articulation of this view appeared in the Farewell Address, jointly authored by Washington, Madison, and Hamilton, stemming from the premise that the basis of the political system is the right of the people to make and alter their constitutions of government. ### Constitutional Limits on Alien Rights - The Address confirms the Constitution was "sacredly obligatory upon all," but constitutional government is a "blessing" of a free people against external threats from "insidious wiles of foreign influence"; this implies a distinction between citizens and aliens. ### The Federalist Papers' View - Federalist No. 57 emphasizes the right and capacity of the people to choose their own rulers, which Hamilton echoed, resting on the solid basis of "THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE," a pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority. ### Anti-Federalist Agreement - Anti-Federalists agreed with Federalists on the distinction between citizens and aliens/foreigners, noting that the right to bear arms was limited to citizens, not aliens, and that granting aliens rights would be seen as a system of despotism. ### Linguistic Evidence and Judicial Interpretation - Linguistic analysis confirms "the people" correlated with "citizen(s)" and "American(s)" in founding-era texts; early courts naturally viewed the right to bear arms as attaching only to Americans, not aliens, and the majority opinion cites this historical context to support excluding illegal aliens from Second Amendment protections. ![Screenshot at 00:00: Speaker Andrew Branca presents analysis of historical documents defining "the people" as consenting citizens.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/cnLdAtVz2vo/00-00-00.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:10: Text highlights that the founding generation understood the right to bear arms as belonging exclusively to those who consented to the new government.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/cnLdAtVz2vo/00-00-10.jpg) ![Screenshot at 01:00: Speaker emphasizes that consent to be governed flows both ways, but that consent to governance requires citizenship.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/cnLdAtVz2vo/00-01-00.jpg) ![Screenshot at 02:26: Text showing the Anti-Federalist concern that granting rights to aliens would pose a grave threat to the security and stability of "the people."](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/cnLdAtVz2vo/00-02-26.jpg) ![Screenshot at 06:36: Text showing the Anti-Federalist concern about political rights being automatically restrained to inhabitants and residents as citizens, not aliens.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/cnLdAtVz2vo/00-06-36.jpg)