Natural Rights | BRI’s Homework Help Series
What are natural rights? The natural rights definition is the belief that certain rights such as life, liberty, and property belong to humans by nature and can only be justly abridged through due process.
How did the idea of natural rights shape the understanding of self-government? Our latest Homework Help video explores this question and provides students with a succinct overview of the essential information regarding life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
0:01 Have you ever heard the term natural rights? The principle of natural rights states that all people as human beings have certain rights that are universal and fundamental. The founders based the Declaration of Independence on these very principles. It states 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,
0:22 that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So how did these ideas of natural rights shape the American understanding of self-government? Let’s take a look at the principle of natural rights. The founders derived many of their ideas about natural rights from ancient philosophy,
0:46 but also enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, an English philosopher and political theorist. In his two treatises of government Locke argued that all people are born with fundamental natural rights like life, liberty and property. This was not a complete list, but Locke believed that these were the most essential. He argued these rights are also inalienable,
1:07 meaning that they’re part of human nature and cannot be taken away without the due process of law. This philosophy was central to the arguments made by the American revolutionaries as they created their own republic. The founders took elements of Locke’s ideas and incorporated it into their political works. In 1774, Thomas Jefferson wrote that the rights of the people were “derived
1:28 from the laws of nature and not as a gift of their chief magistrate.” The following year, Alexander Hamilton wrote, “The sacred rights of mankind are written as with a sunbeam in the whole volume of human nature and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.” The founders also believed that protecting natural rights was a cornerstone to creating a just and effective government.
1:52 The declaration states “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed.” So the principle of natural rights is closely related to the principle of popular sovereignty, where the people are the source of all political authority. People engage in a social contract with each other to establish a government
2:13 that protects its natural rights. The principle of natural rights has shaped America and for centuries, people have referred to natural rights when pushing to actualize the principles of liberty, equality and justice. Whether they were women’s suffragists demanding the right to vote. Abraham Lincoln discussing the purpose of the Civil War.
2:34 Or civil rights leaders fighting for justice and racial equality. The belief that all people have equal claim to natural rights protects human dignity and upholds the principles of justice. No one and no government should violate those rights. What can you do to protect the natural rights of others in your community?
