9/26/2016

Anita Morina:

The Development of Human Rights

Human as the present spelling became standard in the 18th century, but the word
rights has been written down as early as 1215 with the creation of Magna Carta. Magna Carta
is an agreement by King John of England that assured protection for the church, protection for
the nobles, leaving him as close to as being powerless but this was all as an prevention to a civil
war. Though, these rights were sample for many documents to come, Magna Carta as being the
most influential piece of human rights history, has many downsides. The first statement is a
metaphoric representation of a so obvious fact that rights were not initially created for all the
people, for all the humans but rather for the elite, the chosen. Somehow, today, 800 years later
we are still on that matter.
To jump ahead in the year of 1679, England formed another document pressuring
the idea of rights, human rights, which now distinctively serves for all the men in the country.
As a base this document along with Magna Carta give us The Bill of Rights, passed on in 1689
which deals with the separation of power and sets out civil rights for everyone. Many of laws,
demands implemented here for the first time, such as freedom of speech or notion of free
elections, are todays important factors in building cases and justice systems as basic human
rights.
On the other side of the world, America meets their needs and sets up the Virginia Declaration of
Rights which also secured free trial, separation of power and freedom of press. In 1776 these
concepts were very much influenced by those in England year ago. Just months later, a more
famous document that brings the US their independence, the Declaration of Independence that is
a pure copy of the Bill of Rights in England, presenting freedom of religion, speech, press and
freedom of assembly. We are introduced to the word freeman; demanding that all citizens were
eligible to the same rights as being impractical.
In 1789 France established their Declaration of the Rights of Man, being the first declaration
which includes the word liberty, liberty that serves for men to be free of judgment and free to
live and serve for the country by the protection of the law.
But the staging of right specifically reassuring men were protected brought the Declaration of the
Rights of Woman passed in 1791 by Marie Gouze having identical demands with an adjustment
me vs. women. However, her then execution in 1793 meant that the transition to human rights
was still a long development.
Now, looking back, 1215 being a historical date to remember as we gratefully, freely are
able to move and live proves Magna Carta did really set basis for human right but it never grew
to be more than that, lawfully at least. The development of human rights stretched throughout
and we are still learning as to how naturally, as humans we are protected.