The Founders knew full well that while we are born with rights, we need some protection in order to have the freedom to exercise those rights. Legal rights would include the right to vote, the specific methods by which fair trials are conducted, and copyrights and patents—all of which might be defined and protected in different ways in different countries or states, based on their particular customs and beliefs.
The Founders also recognized, from reading history as well as from their own experience, that governments are often the greatest enemy of individual rights. At the same time they knew that without a government to restrain them, people tend to form gangs or rely on their families and tribes to protect them.
These groups war against one another, and make the exercise of individual rights just as unlikely as under a tyrannical king. Of course, representative governments—although most likely to protect individual rights—could also be the means through which the rights of individuals are trampled. It could not have been lost on the Founders when they asserted that the British intended to enslave them, that their own laws enslaved hundreds of thousands of African Americans.
The way to secure inalienable rights, the Founders believed, was to consent to giving up a small amount of our freedom so that government has the authority and finances to protect our rights. In other words, even though we are born with rights, they might be rendered useless without an effective means to protect them.
Sometimes self-defense was not enough. This is why, the Founders thought, we needed a government. But it must be a government faithful to sound principles. In order to achieve this, the Founders believed we needed leaders who were wise enough to avoid mindless wars and destructive economic restrictions, and strong enough to enforce law and order.
While many rulers in history believed they deserved authority because they had been born to powerful families, the Founders believed that leaders should rise to the top by demonstrating their abilities and goodness.
The Founders thought that a free society could only flourish if its leaders are virtuous—which means that its citizens must be able to recognize virtue when they see it.
They understood that even virtuous leaders, however, can succumb to the temptation to abuse the rights of others, so they knew these leaders needed to be restrained from exercising their cleverness and strength in ways that undermine individual rights. One word may cause some readers to pause, though. The word unalienable as in unalienable rights may seem out of place to modern speakers. How could a typo slip into such an important document? In this post, I will compare unalienable vs.
This way, you will be able to see the words in their proper context. Plus, I will show you a helpful memory tool that will make choosing either unalienable or inalienable much easier in your own writing. What does inalienable mean? Inalienable is a negation of the adjective alienable. Inalienable means unable to be taken away. Most of the time, English speakers use this word when referring to rights.
Unalienable An Independence Day Special. Find this useful? Your e-mail address Subscribe Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! Share this article: Link to facebook Link to linkedin Link to twitter. Sign up for our newsletter. Comments 5. James f Fairchild. I assume that last line should say "done" rather than "don't," but thanks for the comment! Is it a quote from someone in particular?
Therefore, the former Unalienable denotes the encompassing of all personal rights, whereas the latter Inalienable clearly refers to rights or matters which are granted or controlled by the States as well as the Federal government i.
Hard copies of the aforementioned Black's Law Dictionary are still available wherever books are sold. Thanks, Raahkim. There are many words with specialist definitions in certain areas e. Jesus said the first part of the Raahkim comment when He was being crucified.
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