Origins of the Second Amendment

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

'A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'

The Second Amendment, included in the Bill of Rights, was ratified in 1791. It went largely unquestioned until the mid 20th century but is now one of the most contentious questions in US politics.

So what did the writers of the Second Amendment set out to protect? How has it been interpreted? And why has it become so controversial so many years later?

Jill Lepore joins Don once again for this episode. Jill is a staff writer for the New Yorker, David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and author of multiple books. The most recent is 'We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution'.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Tim Arstall. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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Transcript

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1:01.0	There is a flash. The musket roars. A smoke cloud billows round your head. Your ears are ringing. Your eyes sting.
1:13.7	Now recharge the weapon. Hand to your cartridge box. Grab a paper tube containing a lead musket ball
1:20.2	and gunpowder wrapped tight. Bite, tear, breathe. Don't think about the enemy. Prime the weapon. Pinch of powder in the firing pan,
1:30.8	snap the frisins shut, and down the barrel with all the rest. Powder, paper, ball, ramrod home.
1:38.3	The weapon is loaded. Now cocked a hammer, shoulder the musket, aim into the haze, and...
1:45.0	Right. Now quickly. Do it again. Dear listeners, welcome to a new episode of American History hit. I'm Don Wildman.
2:15.6	Making changes amendments to the U.S. Constitution drafted in the
2:19.4	summer of 1787 in Philadelphia was a condition of its ratification. Opponents agreed to sign the
2:25.3	final draft that July on the understanding that the document could and would be changed. Article 5 was
2:31.0	added, providing a clear mechanism for proposing and ratifying amendments,
	...

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