Two early American documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence have, over the past 200 years, influenced a great number of democratic ideas and institutions. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights share many obvious similarities to both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was written by the Marquis de Lafayette, approved by the National Assembly of France in 1789, and gave meaning to the revolutionary cry “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.” The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written on December 10, 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. Its purpose was to make known the “standards” for living set by the members of the United Nations.
Although there are many similarities between the two American documents and the two later documents, only four are the most impacting and relevant. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 17.1, “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.” This is taken from the Declaration of Independence, “…that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” At the time of the Declaration of Independence, the pursuit of happiness referred to the right to own land, or the right to be/become someone. Accordingly, this important issue is addressed in both documents; that every man has the privilege to own land. Another point is brought up in both of the documents, and that our country consistently prides itself on is the freedom of religion. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
The Essay on Brainwashing Cases and Freedom of Religion
What is the primary question addressed in this article? What can we learn from this article? Primarily this article delves into detail about certain court cases involving high tolerance sects, referred to as “cults” and ex-members attempting to sue said cult for various different reasons. The most detailed cases described by the author are of cases in which the plaintiff is accusing the so-called ...
This same point is addressed in the 1st Amendment of the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” This freedom of religion is truly what our country was founded on. The puritans came from England in the 1600’s to escape religious persecution, but it had existed long before that. This “freedom of religion” allows our country to generally be a safe haven against religious persecution. Another striking similarity is in Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty…” This same idea is implied in Amendments 4-8 of the Constitution: Article XI especially, identifies trial specifics, “…the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed… informed of the nature and cause of the accusation… to be confronted with the witnesses against him…etc.”
Many of these specifics imply “innocent until proven guilty,” a term most Americans are familiar with. This is vital because it is much easier to defend oneself when one is presumed innocent than it is when one is assumed to be guilty. The final similarity between the documents is the guarantee of freedom of speech and expression. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference…” This is similar the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, “Congress shall make no law[denying]freedom of speech, or of the press
The Essay on Constitution vs Articles of Confederation
As one of the creators of the new Constitution of 1788, you are chosen to present its strengths as compared to the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. What areas of importance will you stress in attempting to get it passed unanimously? Give good well-reasoned arguments in a report of approximately 400 words. You will need to research the details of each document, using resources from the ...
Among the similarities of the documents, there are also differences that should be addressed. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Article 7 states that, “…resistance makes him guilty.” In Amendments 4-8 of the Constitution, it is implied that one is proven innocent until proven guilty. The other major difference comes in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 23.3, “everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.” This is speaking about equal rights, something spoken about often in our country. Although this statement is not contradicted in either the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, there is no formal statement about it, as there should be.
Obviously, both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence have impacted Democratic ideas in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. It has, however, impacted much more than simply these two documents: other documents, societies, governments, etc. It is easy to see the result of these two amazing documents in our everyday life.
