United States and Civil Liberties
The story of civil liberties goes back to the United States which became the first country to add civil liberties to its constitution. It started with the making of the Constitution in 1787. The original document did not have the Bill of Rights with all the important freedoms listed in it. The framers of the Constitution were worried about dealing with the problems of keeping the new country together instead of writing down rights in the Constitution. For the Anti-federalist faction of the Congress, this was not enough. Debates against this almost stopped the acceptance of the constitution. To solve this issue a promise was made to add a special list of rights in the constitution which later became the Bill of Rights.
James Madison later on proposed these amendments in the Constitution Which later became the Bill of Rights containing civil liberties. After the Civil War, the 14th amendment was added to the American Constitution in 1868 which stated that the state can’t take away rights from people by making any law that protected civil rights. In short, the journey of civil liberties was one of keeping promises, and fighting battles that made sure that everyone enjoyed equal freedom and rights.
Civil Liberties – Definition, Importance & Examples
Civil Liberties are rights given naturally to the people of the country to protect them from the absolutism of government. The amount to which these liberties are given and enjoyed by people indicates the level of democracy in the country. Civil liberties allow everyone to be treated equally by the government. This ensures the government does not have much power over people creating a perfect balance.
In this article we will read about Civil Liberties, it definition, origin, importance and much more.
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