INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS ARE THE OLDEST AND MOST TRADITIONAL
OF
AMERICAN VALUES
In the end, popular sentiment was decisive. Recently
freed from the despotic English monarchy, the American people
wanted strong guarantees that the new government would not trample
upon their newly won freedoms of speech, press and religion, nor
upon their right to be free from warrantless searches and
seizures. So, the Constitution's framers heeded Thomas Jefferson
who argued: "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled
to against every government on earth, general or particular, and
what no just government should refuse..."
The American Bill of Rights, inspired by Jefferson
and drafted by James Madison, was adopted, and in 1791 the
Constitution's first ten amendments became the law of the land.
LIMITED GOVERNMENT
Early American mistrust of government power came from the colonial
experience itself. The pivotal event
was the Stamp Act, passed by the English Parliament in 1765. Taxes
were imposed on every legal and business document. Newspapers,
books and pamphlets were also taxed. Even more than the taxes
themselves, the Americans resented the fact that they were imposed
by a distant government in which they were not represented. And
they were further enraged by the ways in which the Stamp Act was
enforced.
Armed with "writs of assistance" issued by Parliament, British
customs inspectors entered people's homes even if they had no
evidence of a Stamp Act violation, and ransacked the people's
belongings in search of contraband. The colonialists came to hate
these "warrantless" searches and they became a rallying
point for opposition to British rule.
From these experiences came a uniquely American view of power and
liberty as natural enemies. The nation's founders believed that
containing the government's power and protecting liberty was their
most important task, and declared a new purpose for government:
the protection of individual rights.
The protection of rights was not the government's only purpose. It was
still expected to protect the community against foreign and
domestic threats, to ensure economic growth, and to conduct
foreign affairs. It was not, however, the government's job to tell
people how to live their lives, what religion to believe in, or
what to write about in a pamphlet or newspaper. In this sense, the
idea of individual rights is the oldest and most traditional of
American values.
"CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS"
Democracy and liberty are often thought to be the same thing, but they
are not. Democracy means that people ought to be able to vote for
public officials in fair elections, and make most political
decisions by majority rule. Liberty, on the other hand, means that
even in a democracy, individuals have rights that no majority
should be able to take away.
The rights that the Constitution's framers wanted to protect from
government abuse were referred to in the Declaration of
Independence as "unalienable rights." They were also
called "natural" rights, and to James Madison, they were
"the great rights of mankind." Although it is commonly
thought that we are entitled to free speech because the First
Amendment gives it to us, this country's original citizens
believed that as human beings, they were entitled to free speech,
and they invented the First Amendment in order to protect it. The
entire Bill of Rights was created to protect rights that early American
citizens believed were naturally theirs, including:
- FREEDOM
OF RELIGION
The
right to exercise one's own religion, or no religion, free from
any government influence or compulsion.
- FREEDOM
OF SPEECH, PRESS, PETITION & ASSEMBLY
Even
unpopular expression is protected from government suppression or
censorship.
- PRIVACY
The
right to be free of unwarranted and unwanted government intrusion
into one's personal and private affairs, papers, and possessions.
- DUE
PROCESS OF LAW
The
right to be treated fairly by the government whenever the loss of
liberty or property is at stake.
- EQUALITY
BEFORE THE LAW
The
right to be treated equally before the law, regardless of social
status.
For more information about the Bill of Rights see "Know Your Legal Rights".
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