Essay on Human Rights

Submitted By indy500xo
Words: 1648
Pages: 7

Chapter 1: Introduction to Human Rights
&
Article: “To Beat Back Poverty, Pay the Poor”
Summary
Main Characteristics of Human Rights
Some main characteristics of human rights are that the rights are made up especially with the interest of the people in mind. Human rights are different for each group of individuals. The people are entitled to make judgments and decisions they feel deemed necessary for the community. The chapter simply states that for every different geological culture, the human rights of the people are the same. Politics play a big role in the human rights system. While politics may not shed light on every right, they still do exist. The protections over these rights are also very minimal. The chapter said the rights are also very minimal as well. It’s said that the rights are inalienable, indivisible, and interdependent.
With this being said, human rights cannot be discriminated against, they cannot be taken away from a person, and each human right a person obtains is contingent upon a component that allows he/she to keep a job, or participate in daily activities. In order for certain freedoms and beliefs to be recognized, human rights are to be placed into action.
Human rights are established to help the people and they are also there to help keep peace, order, and togetherness within a community. Human rights are to be exercised but they are to be done so within reason, law and just cause.
Classification of Human Rights
Human rights are classified into numerous categories. The two main categories are classic/civil and social rights. The subcategories under social rights include economic and cultural. Classic/Civil rights are reserved to the individual. Political deals with the government and their general input. Social rights require positive acts of the government for the necessary conditions to sustain human life. The classifications of human rights are to ensure that everyone has the right to social security, and also the economic, social, and cultural rights previously listed. These duties may be hard because there are some things that people aren’t quite clear on. Things such as the negative connotation on civil and political rights and the positive connotation on the economic, social and cultural rights are to name a few.
With that being said, the actual views on these rights are proved to be that they all have negative and positive traits, and not just one or the other.
History of Human Rights
The actual concept of rights began in England in the thirteenth century. This started with the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 by King John. This established rights such as the right of the church to be free from governmental inference and the right to free all citizens to own property free from excessive taxes. The idea of the Magna Carta was so that the laws of the land were not swayed one way and were not based on one individuals own personal agendas.
The English Bill of Rights, established around 1688, was written up after the Glorious Revolution. The Bill of Rights dealt with the countries fundamental concerns. These rights made the King an equal person to the people. Excessive bail or fines, cruel and unusual punishment, and unfair trials were protected by this bill. In 1776, The U.S Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson was signed, declaring the British colonies independence from the British Empire. In the beginning stages of this document, the equal rights of women went unrecognized, but since then many more rights have been added. In addition to the Declaration on Independence, the Declaration of the Rights of Man of the Citizen was established. Both of these documents were ultimately written to protect the rights of the people.
Human rights issues remained the topic of discussion for the nineteenth and twentieth century. The people believed that the reason for the acts of violence, occurring around that time, were because of the