What is fair and equitable when discussing what kinds of rights are recognized by a government?

GUIDE TO RIGHTS’ ESSAY
BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR PREPARING RIGHTS’ ESSAY
As you approach writing this essay, please think about the two questions you are being asked to answer:
How are the two basic documents, The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution,
different in context and message?
Please note that the Declaration, written in 1776, came directly out of the need to justify a
revolutionary war (1775) by the people of the British colonies in North America against the British
Empire. This document is designed to explain to the world why the people of the colonies have been
driven to separate from Britain by the actions of that government. It proclaims the establishment of
a new, independent nation, the United States of America. The essence of that document is inalienable
rights, that is, rights that are inherent in every human being. It is a message of equality for all people
joined together in a community embodying the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In
effect, it was a rallying cry to join this momentous effort, against all odds, to defeat the most extensive
empire the world had ever seen, armed with the latest weapons and military tactics, by a small rag-tag
militia composed of merchants, workers, farmers, free Blacks and servants.
During the war, the new country was governed by a document, The Articles of Confederation, that
you are not required to read, but are important in several ways as described below. It offered an
alternative, but still significant, vision of the structure of government as compared to the United States
Constitution written in 1787.
The United States Constitution was written eleven years after the Revolutionary War when the
context had changed and along with that change, the message was different. Rather than justifying
overthrowing a government, the Constitution, was intent on establishing a government. The drafters
of the Constitution wore conservative rather than transformative hats. That is, they no longer wanted
revolution, in fact, they dreaded and wanted to suppress uprisings and protests, and were more concerned
with property rights and the development of a commercial nation engaged in manufacturing and trade.
Primary among the property rights that the writers of the Constitution wanted to protect was slavery.
Secondarily, the Constitution was concerned with advancing the growth of business and trade.
The Articles of the document are riddled therefore with references (disguised in neutral language) to slaves,
the slave trade, the Fugitive Slave Act, as well as to property rights, commercial interests, contract
violations and financial solvency (paying debts), all of which announced to everyone in the United States
and to the world what the priorities of the new nation would be. And in the process, the Constitution
managed to take away from all the groups who had participated in the Revolution, such as workers,
farmers, servants, free Blacks and women, all rights to participate in the governance of the country.
Only a slender stratum of rich, white men were to be in charge, to assume the organization and control
of governmental structures, make crucial decisions about domestic and foreign policy, industrial
development, ownership of property, in effect, to determine the destiny of the United States of America.
Your analysis of these documents will lay a foundation for the second question, which picks up directly from the
documents described above. Understanding these two documents should allow you to make the transition to an
evaluation of rights. The Declaration of Independence invites us to think very broadly about rights, life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness. And serving as the basis of these rights is equality. “All men are created equal,
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.” What does equality mean in practice? How equal is
equal? What makes a population happy, individually and collectively? From what conditions does happiness
arise? Is community the source of happiness? The Constitution continues with life and liberty, but then substitutes
“property” for “happiness.” What constitutes property? Is it a valid substitute for happiness? The Constitution
stresses liberty. Does liberty mean the same as equality? Is there a difference between equality and equity? The
answer is yes to both questions. Liberty refers to individual rights; equality is broader, more inclusive, more collective.
Equality translates into everyone gets the same; equity favors giving more to those who have not been deprived of
Equals shares until they reach parity (equality and then the differential distribution can be made truly equal.
Are the rights derived from the foundational documents of the United States, The Declaration of Independence
(1776) and the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution (1791), sufficiently broad and inclusive to deal
with the issues of the Twentieth Century, or should additional social and economic rights derived from such
documents as the Economic Declaration of Rights (1944) and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (
1948) be incorporated into law by Congress or by Constitutional Amendments?
The rights delineated in the first ten amendments to the Constitution are all political rights. They limit
what the government can do to you. It can’t pass a law establishing a religion or prohibit the free exercise
of religion; it cannot abridge freedom of speech or press or the right of people to assembly peaceably or to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances; it cannot search and seize persons or property without
a warrant presented on probable cause; it cannot deprive you of life, liberty or property without due process
of law; it cannot require excessive bail or impose cruel and unusual punishments.
We treasure those rights. Why should we go any farther than those? Have conditions and expectations
changed to justify greater, more expansive rights? The two documents, Economic Declaration of Rights and
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, think so. Written in the mid-twentieth century as opposed to the
Late eighteenth century, they declare government owes more to its people. They would include education,
a job, a home, medical care, food, water in the list of rights, in fact, human rights.
Considering the original rights and the expanded rights bring you full circle from 1776 to 2021 and back again.
Thinking about the rights you have requires you to think deeply about what any difference between a nation
of individuals and a community of equals.
It also reveals how these documents are meaningful and relevant to your life and to the life of all the people
who populate your life and community?
What is fair and equitable when discussing what kinds of rights are recognized by a government?
It is up to you to assess, with clearly stated reasons,
what rights you feel should be included or not in laws of Congress or in Constitutional amendments

Short Version of Essay Outline
Essay Number One on Rights: Should more rights be added to the United States Constitution?
1. Read the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution including Bill of Rights (First ten amendments); How do they differ? (Hints: From an all-inclusive document to stir the population to join a revolutionary war with a vision of a community of equals to a conservative statement to establish a functioning government, in which only an elite could participate; from life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, which represented, security, equality and well-being to life, liberty and property, which clearly meant land and slaves. Also, the Declaration of Independence was founded on the idea of “inherent” rights, that is, rights that every person is granted just for being human. The original Constitution did not contain any rights, but in order tp get those eligible to vote to ratify the document, the drafters had to promise that a list of political rights would be added by the first Congress when it met for the first time in 1789. The ten rights on which they voted in 1791 became what we call The Bill of Rights.)
2. Read Economic Bill of Rights and Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Should any of the social and economic rights in these documents be included in the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights? By social and economic rights are meant many of the issues of greater concern in the twentieth century than in eighteenth century; including universal medical care, education, jobs, housing, food, water, workers’ right, such as organizing a union.

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