Start of Western Civilization, Societies Have Sought

¶ … start of western civilization, societies have sought a balance between order and liberty. It has always been the responsibility of government to maintain order for the safety and well-being of its citizens, but questions have remained as to the extent this goal can be accomplished without impeding the natural rights of its citizens, known as liberty. This tension can especially be seen in the documents various documents of England and the United States.

This tension was first observed in English history with the drafting and signing of the Magna Carta, a document which guaranteed the subjects of England the right of due process and limited the power of the king preventing the king from denying any inaliable rights to the people. The Magna Carta was further expanded in England by the English Bill of Rights of 1688. This document further limited the power of the sovereignty and especially reflected the views of John Locke. The limitations in this document were especially potent in ensuring greater liberty by preventing the king from acting alone. Instead, royals were forced to act in accordance with the Parliament. Further rights were given for actions such as speech and due process, solidifying liberty. Once again, however, any act could be implemented with the approval of Parliament.

The United States went even further than England in declaring that even resting too much power in Parliament can cause a breach of liberty. In the Virginia declaration of rights, it was declared that people had the right to rebel against an inadequate government. In other words, in the government is not doing its job to protect its citizens, then citizens having the right to overthrow that government and establish a new one in its place. The final defining document in America that guaranteed the strictest of liberty was the Declaration of Independence which stated that all men had the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that no government should impede these rights.

Question 2: Whereas it was originally the intent of the 14th Amendment to guarantee the state's individual rights, this decree was quickly weakened. Within 20 years of the passage of the Amendment, other Constitutional amendments such as the commerce clause were expanding and allowing the federal government the ability to impede and restrict state's rights. Further impediments existed due to the civil war where the federal government repealed slavery, removing the rights of the states to choose.

Question 3: The primary theme of the Preamble, Declaration of Independence, Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address was that all men are created equal by God and that government existed to protect that equality. This idea was initially used to inspire the American Revolution and found the new American government. However, at the founding of the government, only white men were truly considered equal under the law. This tension came to head throughout the creation of the states and ended in the Civil War. Under Abraham Lincoln, the Federal Government stepped in and redefined these historical documents to apply to all men of any race. So, on its surface, the Government finally solved the overlying equality issue.