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Your original statement was, ALL of the founding fathers viewed commerce and property as a function or construct of society, rather than a natural right in itself which is false. You are quoting out of context to support a particular view. For example the first you posted from Franklin continues: "All Property, indeed, except the Savage's temporary Cabin, his Bow, his Matchcoat, and other little Acquisitions, absolutely necessary for his Subsistence, seems to me to be the Creature of public Convention. Hence the Public has the Right of Regulating Descents, and all other Conveyances of Property, and even of limiting the Quantity and the Uses of it. All the Property that is necessary to a Man, for the Conservation of the Individual and the Propagation of the Species, is his natural Right, which none can justly deprive him of: But all Property superfluous to such purposes is the Property of the Publick, who, by their Laws, have created it, and who may therefore by other Laws dispose of it, whenever the Welfare of the Publick shall demand such Disposition." It is the "Property superfluous to such purposes" that belongs to society. Your interpretation was contrary tp that, believing it to mean ALL property belongs to society. That is refuted by the very links you posted. In Frankin's second quote, he stated his belief, rightly so, that he was hesitant to create an aristocracy based on property. He was arguing for a bicameral legislature and in the process admitted the rights of people to own property (the upper legislature composed of property owners). Also, in Franklin's second quote, you quoted out of context. Immediately, prior to what you quoted, he spoke about property rights. We know, that, when one of them has attempted to keep a few Swine, he has not been able to maintain a Property in them, his neighbours thinking they have a Right to kill and eat them whenever they want Provision, it being one of their Maxims that hunting is free for all; the accumulation therefore of Property in such a Society, and its Security to Individuals in every Society, must be an Effect of the Protection afforded to it by the joint Strength of the Society, in the Execution of its Laws.. His argument is that the purpose of a society is to protect property rights. |
However, I'm decontextualizing their quotes to support my view despite more precise context being included in the quotes I provided? The meaning of the second quote was not decontextualized and your emphasized component is addressed more precisely by "except the Savage's temporary Cabin, his Bow, his Matchcoat, and other little Acquisitions, absolutely necessary for his Subsistence" which was included in my comment: your analysis does not really add additional nuance where I was supposedly lacking, you're just repeating your original misinformation while bringing up their (related but tangential) ideas on government.
Even in this reply you seem not to delineate the nuance they were intending with their comments on social constructs vs natural rights - just additional context about how they intended to structure government around these ideas.
And next time should you want to spread misinformation without the decontextualizing the meaning of primary sources, include some links to the full text of the parroted quotes. There was certainly much more context provided in my instance that yours - which reeks of someone trying to misconstrue something for their viewpoint. Was Madison """impure""" because he didn't support your opinion exactly as you expected?