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There were some mixed opinions on it, though; the U.S. founders also didn't necessarily oppose measures to put down civil unrest. For example, they explicitly wrote into the Constitution a provision that the federal government may suspend habeas corpus "when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it".

Of course, not everyone agreed: Jefferson opposed that clause in the Constitution. But Samuel Adams would've gone further and prescribed the death penalty for anyone rebelling against the United States, drawing a distinction between rebellion against monarchical governments, which he felt was justified, and rebellion against republics, which he felt was not.



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