natural rights

…such as human rights or natural rights, in which people acquire rights inherently, perhaps from God or nature, civil rights must be given and guaranteed by the power of the state. Therefore, they vary greatly over time, culture, and form of government and tend to follow societal trends that condone…

Emerging ideas of the individual’s natural rights (as espoused by the philosophers John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and further evidenced by the Declaration of Independence of the United States) and those of nations’ rights (particularly regarding independence and self-determination) gained prominence. Moreover, the monarchs’ traditional supremacy, anchored in their lineage…

…individuals and to guarantee their natural rights to freedom of thought, speech, and worship. Significantly, Locke thought that revolution is justified when the sovereign fails to fulfill these obligations. Indeed, it appears that he began writing his major work of political theory, Two Treatises of Government (1690), precisely in order…

…use for the idea of natural rights, their defense of individual liberties—including the rights to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly—lies at the heart of modern democracy. These liberties received their classic advocacy in John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty (1859), which argues…