preview

Civil Liberties And Civil Rights

Better Essays

Assignment One: Civil Liberties v. Civil Rights Linsey (Lins) Morgan - Student ID: 3104067
GOVT - 2305 - 71063
Northlake College
Had I been born a mere 60 years earlier, I would likely be in jail. Before discussing the U.S. Supreme Court decision which has preserved my freedom, I would like to examine the nature of civil rights and civil liberties. Next, we will look at some of the historical context which would have found me jailed. Lastly, we will conclude by looking at the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court 's landmark decision which has preserved my civil liberties as well as my civil rights.
In the United States, civil rights and civil liberties are two concepts which have been interwoven into the fabric of our nation since its …show more content…

Whereas, civil rights tend to address the rights of groups or specific demographics of people. Our longstanding American pursuit of civil rights holds its origin in The Declaration of Independence and the precept of civil liberties which it introduces.
Civil rights and the guarantee of the civil liberty that "all men are created equal" (US, 1776) has proved to be difficult in its application. This fact is no more glaringly evident than when looking at our nation 's treatment of race. To take a closer look at an issue that violated both civil rights and civil liberties, until 1967 miscegenation was illegal in sixteen states. Anti-miscegenation and de facto, if not outright de jure, discrimination found their way into the American legal system as early as 1630. Before the nation had even separated from colonial rule, the General Court of Colonial Virginia ruled on the first American court case involving miscegenation (Martyn, 1979). The first explicit anti-miscegenation law went into effect in Maryland in 1661 (Sollors, 2000). In its original form, this first anti-miscegenation law called for any white female who had sexual relations with a black slave, to be enslaved herself along with any offspring she produced. The bold language of the law unequivocally denounces the women in such cases as "the disgrace of our Nation" (Maryland State Archives, 2014). The predominance of discrimination against mixed-race couples was widespread in the early

Get Access