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Civil Liberties And Civil Rights

Decent Essays

Civil Liberties and Rights The notion of Civil Liberties and Civil Rights in the United States have their origins before the creation of the country in the writings of the Enlightenment, which was the dominant cultural movement in the years leading up and shortly after the founding of the country. First laid down on paper by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, the proclamation “all men are created equal” and are “endowed by their creator with certain, unalienable Rights, that amongst these are Life,Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” became the de facto summary of what the Revolutionary War was being fought for. Indeed what became known as the spirit of 76 was largely a result of the colonist 's early endeavor to reach these grand ideals. Still with the brittleness of the political system created by the Articles of Confederation, a more realistic and pragmatic mindset replaced the previous ideals, resulting in the Constitution of 1787. The outline of government that emerged was a far more stable and centralized system which was designed to protect and ensure certain rights of the people by limiting or restricting liberties which would be detrimental for the common good. Amongst the first acts of the new government was the passage of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution which became known as the Bill of Rights. The bill is compromised of the basic, though not all, rights which cannot be infringed upon either by an individual or group on another

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