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American Government and the Constitution Lecture Twelve (view source)

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===Property rights===

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Some scholars have said that the real purpose of the U.S. Constitution was to protect private property rights. James Madison said:

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{{cquote|Government is instituted to protect property of every sort .... This being the end of government, that is not a just government, ... nor is property secure under it, where the property which a man has ... is violated by arbitrary seizures of one class of citizens for the service of the rest.}}

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Many other Founders felt the same way. John Adams, for example, said that:

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{{cquote|The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God ... anarchy and tyranny commence. Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist.}}

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There were many "radicals" in the United States at the time of the American Revolution and afterward who were opponents of private property. Radicals took control of the French Revolution and much private property was seized or destroyed in that nation. A major motivation for writing the U.S. Constitution and establishing a strong but limited national government was to protect private property against radicals, and against tyranny.

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Today, the Fifth Amendment is the primary protection for private property in the U.S. Constitution, and it is a constant source of lawsuits and controversy over how strong that protection really is. The Fifth Amendment protects against the taking of private property by government without "just compensation." What constitutes a "taking" is the source of continuing dispute.

===Immigration===

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