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To: Truthsayer20
There was a significant amount of correspondence between Madison and Jefferson (in France) at the time the DRMC was being drafted. Jefferson undoubtedly had a hand in advising the French on the Declaration, and Madison's views were sometimes brought to bear by Jefferson.

The interesting thing about you highlighting the 17th item, which seems to mirror the takings clause of the 5th Amendment, is that their similarity probably ends with the language - the French provision was a reaction to a very specific old regime abuse - the taking of property by the Church and the nobility - rather than an ideal of the manner in which property rights would be secured. It is important to note that, with their background in a feudal society, the French had a very different conception of private property than did the Americans.

I actually did a research paper on this topic in grad school. My conclusion was that, while some provisions in the DRMC were directly influenced by corresponding provisions in the Bill of Rights, the property provision was completely unrelated to the takings clause.

102 posted on 01/18/2005 11:19:43 AM PST by lugsoul (Until at last I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin on the mountainside.)
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To: lugsoul
Jefferson undoubtedly had a hand in advising the French on the Declaration...

Well, it couldn't have been much given the hauteur of the French, and the fact that Jefferson couldn't speak (fluent) French.

No, in this regard Jefferson, IMHO, was more like a love-smitten school boy, for he was there to see only the beginning of the Revolution when it was still brights and shinning...and for the rest of his life refused to admit that it ever had a darker side. Sort of like early-mid 20th c. American communists and USSR.

116 posted on 01/18/2005 11:45:24 AM PST by yankeedame ("Oh, I can take it but I'd much rather dish it out.")
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