I think you meant to say the Declaration of Independence, rather than
Constitution.
Liberty does not, and has not always equalled the franchise. A
compelling argument can be made that only those who have a permanent
stake in a society, and who pay taxes to support it, ought to be able
to vote how those taxes are spent. Back then that meant property
owning males. We have expanded that definition of who deserves the
franchise, and the tax base, since then.
Matthew
On Feb 4, 2009, at 9:46 PM, Rev. Stewart Marshall wrote:
That statement by Jefferson in the Continuation is a real reflection
of the Enlightenment teaching of the 17 and 18th century.
Before this time the concept of liberty was very limited and only
tot hose who had.
Even in the US the early Fathers believed that only those who owned
property should vote. Not a very broad concept of liberty.
See this web site for more info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
Stewart
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