So, the individual mandate requiring all citizens to buy insurance goes against what the founders would have done, eh? That's funny, because apparently they made all male citizens buy guns. I wonder what the Tea Party's excuse is for this?
The Civic Republican Roots of the Individual Mandate: The irony, of course, is that this is an example of what the federal government could require citizens to do at the founding. All able bodied male citizens were part of the militia, and therefore were required to bear arms in defense of the state. In fact, the federal government passed a militia act in 1792 that required that every citizen purchase a weapon and ammunition.
The Civic Republican Roots of the Individual Mandate: The irony, of course, is that this is an example of what the federal government could require citizens to do at the founding. All able bodied male citizens were part of the militia, and therefore were required to bear arms in defense of the state. In fact, the federal government passed a militia act in 1792 that required that every citizen purchase a weapon and ammunition.