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Quote by: Isherwood  I believe to the founding fathers, "the people" generally meant adult white male property owners. Those were the only people that were allowed to vote and hold office. It stands to reason they would never have imagined women or slaves taking up arms. |
That's not true.
The US Constitution (as originally written, before the amendments) said nothing about sex or race. It left the question of who could vote (and hold office) to the states. In fact, women did vote in some states, as did free blacks.
It's also true that the rights of women and blacks (in non-slave states, of course), where upheld in courts. The point is, these things were left to the states. Some states were plainly racist and sexist. Some were not.
~ zynner