Human Rights

<sup>Human Rights: The US Constitution, Declaration of the Rights of Man, and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Enlightenment era was marked by a series of intellectual revolutions, most notably the concept of human rights. The philosophy of John Locke that all human beings possessed certain inalienable rights to their person was highly influential in the definition of rights enshrined in the US Constitution. The US Constitution has set the tone for many subsequent declarations of human rights and attempts to define what rights cannot be taken away by any sovereign, government, or other governing body, including the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) and the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As well as granting freedom of speech, the First Amendment of the US Constitution stipulates the right of citizens to petition for redress of grievances from the government. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man more generally declares that the purpose of government is to serve human beings not vice versa: “The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man” (2). The UN Declaration explicitly and even more loosely affirms the right to express political opinions in Article 2. The UN Declaration, also much like the US Constitution’s First Amendment’s Establishment Clause likewise affirms the right to religious freedom; the Declaration of the Rights of Man also states: “No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views” (10).
In all three documents, one of the most important projected rights is that of the right to not be deprived of one’s liberty unless found guilty according to the standards set forth within the justice system. In the US Constitution, the Fifth Amendment strictly prohibits individuals from conviction without trial. The Rights of Man states, “…no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offense” (8). The UN Declaration of Human Rights holds, “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him” (10). Although very different in their wording, all three documents state that due process rather than arbitrary imprisonment is a right of all persons.
Finally, all three documents affirm the right to be secure in one’s property. The Constitution prohibits forcing individuals to house soldiers against their will in the Third Amendment, as well as prohibits illegal searches and seizures in the Fourth Amendment. A great deal of this language is echoed in the UN document, which specifically states that the right of privacy cannot be interfered with (12). The Declaration of the Rights of Man more generally states that property is an “inviolate and sacred right” that should only be taken away when there is a public necessity that is legally determined (17).
The fact that the language of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) and the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights is more general than that of the US Constitution is not entirely surprising, given that neither of these documents are formal, governing documents of law but are rather more general affirmations of the rights of human beings. Still, the fact that they echo the language of the US Constitution is significant and is a testimony to the extent to which the Constitution was a formative document in determining how individual rights were conceptualized as something which could not be taken away by the capricious will of a sovereign. Both Declarations go even farther than the Constitution, given that they suggest that even in the absence of a legitimate government, some rights cannot be taken away.


Reference
America’s Founding Documents. (1789). Retrieved from:
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs
The Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789). The Avalon Project. Retrieved from:
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp
UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (1948). United Nations. Retrieved from:
http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/</sup>