Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
The concept of universal human rights may have been seeded by the Magna Carta, but did not reach fruition until the United States Constitution had been drafted in the late eighteenth century. Built on the Enlightenment values of individualism and inalienable universal rights, the Constitution helped lay the groundwork for the French Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen in 1789. In fact, these two documents emerged almost concurrently, in light of the major ideological, social and political changes taking place in Europe and North America. Those attitudinal changes would later take root globally. The universal human rights espoused and made law in these two documents started a revolution that resulted in the creation of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Four rights found in all three of these documents include freedom, equality, and the subordination of the law to the dignity of the person, principles that have transformed the nature of human relationships and socio-political realities.
Since the adoption of the United States Constitution and the French Declaration of the Rights of the Man, the belief that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” has prevailed (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Article 1). Each of these documents recognizes...
Any government that is characterized by “tyranny and oppression” can be deemed illegitimate because it violates the fundamental tenets of human rights as outlined in these three documents (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Preamble). All three of these documents proclaim the importance of national sovereignty, while still deeming tyrannical governments as being illegitimate. The conundrum between illegitimate tyrannical regimes and the right to national sovereignty continues to plague international relations. Therefore, these three documents radically transformed the legitimacy and nature of governments.
The Constitution of the United States is concerned mainly with the function, role, and structure of government, but its Bill of Rights is what really reflects the Enlightenment values of freedom, liberty, and universality. Even though it would take some time for these principles to become ensconced in law, universal human rights became the new ideal upon which societies would be formed. Throughout the world, governments pay lip service to the principles of universal human rights without actually ensuring the equal dissemination of…
References
The Constitution of the United States (1787). https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789). http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
5.0 Conclusion As this paper has argued, the Second Amendment was designed not only to protect the militias; it was also intended to protect an individual's right to own and bear arms. Those groups opposed to the private ownership of firearms should base their arguments on their own personal beliefs rather than a Constitutional interpretation defense. As supported by its historical background and analysis of Constitutional context and meaning, "A well
Besides defining what the basic role of government should be, the declaration gives citizens the ability to hold government liable for its actions. Article 6 gives all citizens the right to participate in the lawmaking process, either directly or through their representatives. Citizens are also given the right to keep public officials held accountable for the actions of their administration as stated in Article 15. Much of the declaration's principles
Declaration of the Rights of Man, written by Lafayette during the reign of Louis XVI, is quite different to that of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman created by De Gourges during the rule of the revolutionary French government. The Declaration of the Rights of Man consists of 17 short and succinct points. As we see it has been approved by the National Assembly of France on August 26,
" When that Amendment was put in, the country was very young and it was wild, with Native Americans often hostile (with good reason), with wild animals posing a threat, and with various wars (the French & Indian War; the Civil War) taking place. People needed to feel like they were protected, and the new government didn't want to take their personal means of physical protection away from them. The
Declarations of Human Rights In 1776, the American Declaration of Independence, the document that started it all, became the first official written document to suggest that human beings had inalienable rights. The Founding Fathers stated, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (Declaration
" Both men's philosophies weighed heavily on the Constitution of the United States, although Jefferson's viewpoints were much more evident due to his proximity and availability to those who were creating such a document. What is interesting to note, is that most of the signers of the Constitution were of the belief that the Constitution was not a perfect document. Jefferson believed that it was an imperfect writing, and in