Foundations of Social Studies
GOVERNMENT
CIVIL RIGHTS
The main idea of civil rights is that all people should have equality regardless of race, religion,
gender, age, and physical disability. Rights are granted by governments; however, not all
governments recognize the same rights. Additionally, in the United States, the rights which our
government has protected for all people have changed over time. When Americans think of civil
rights, we most often think of the efforts made to bring equality to African Americans who had been
denied many rights in our history. But the fight for equality and equal treatment has also included
people of different religions, genders, ages, and people with disabilities.
Origins of Civil Rights
Governments have not always recognized that people have rights. One of the first times in history
that people started to recognize rights were with the writings of an Englishman named John Locke.
Locke wrote a book explaining his theory of rights. According to Locke’s theory, governments should
not take away any persons natural rights to three things: life, liberty and property.
When the founding fathers of the United States were writing the Declaration of Independence they
were heavily influenced by Locke’s beliefs. However, they did not believe that people had a right to
property so they eliminated “property” from their list and added “the pursuit of happiness.” Thus,
the Declaration of Independence states that all people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness.
This idea of equality and protecting individuals from government has changed many times
throughout history. As an example, the right to vote in the United States has changed over time.
This right was first granted only to white males over the age of 21 who owned property. Eventually,
African Americans, women, and people over the age of 18 were also granted these rights.
The Bill of Rights
In the United States one of the key documents that protect individual’s civil rights is the Bill of
Rights. When the founding fathers were writing the Constitution there was a debate about
guaranteeing individual rights. Many people felt that they needed to specifically write a protection
of rights into the Constitution. That guarantee was written after the Constitution and is called the
Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. An amendment is something that is
added to the Constitution. The first amendment is probably the most famous. It promises the right
to the freedom of press, religion, speech and assembly. The other amendments protect individuals
from things like illegal search and seizure, outline trial rights and the right to bear arms.
Eventually, the United States added 17 more amendments to the Constitution. Some amendments
weren’t connected to civil rights, but other amendments like the 14th is. The 14th amendment states
that all people are equal regardless of their race. It was this amendment which finally granted black
men the right to vote. However women, both black and white, were not able to vote until the 19 th
amendment was passed in 1920. This gave equality based on gender.
Expanding Civil Rights Today
Another group of people who have had to fight for civil rights are people with disabilities. They
could vote if they were old enough, however, they had difficulty accessing businesses, schools, or
other public places. Many people believed that people with disabilities should have the right to
access businesses, schools, and other public places. In 1990, Congress passed a law called the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which requires schools, workplaces and public buildings to
provide things like access ramps and parking for people in wheelchairs.
Discrimination based on sexual orientation is something that is currently in the news. Only recently
have gay people been able to legally serve in the US military. Homosexual couples are not legally
allowed to marry in most US states. Many people believe that the civil rights of gay people are not
protected because they are discriminated against based on their sexual orientation. Other people
do not believe that civil rights based on sexual orientation should be protected in the same was as
they are for race, religion, disability, and gender.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, our country became much more concerned about
large numbers of undocumented immigrants entering the United States. Very strict laws about
people who are living in the United States illegally have been passed. Some of these laws are
criticized because of a belief that they may violate civil rights. Other people do not believe that
undocumented immigrants have these civil rights because they are not legal citizens of the United
States.
Today, most people in the United States have their civil rights protected by the government, either
by the Bill of Rights or by laws which have been passed by the federal government or by their state.
People cannot be discriminated against for any reason including race, religion, age, gender, or
physical disability. However, as long as people believe that there is discrimination and that people
are not being treated with equality the discussion about civil rights will continue.