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Running Head: THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS
The Rights of Citizens
Sean Halpin
Honors World History B
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Abstract
To understand the rights that citizens should have, one can look to sources such as John
Locke, the Bill of Rights, and the law code of Catherine the Great. These sources stated that
citizens should have freedom of religion, right to possessions, right to equal treatment by the law,
right to life, and the right to liberty.
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“The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in
all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom.” These
are the words of the Enlightenment philosopher, John Locke, who avidly devoted himself to the
question of “What rights should citizens have?”. His insights, as well as those from several other
philosophers and key political manuscripts, such as Catherine the Great’s law code, and the Bill
of Rights, will be explored in this paper. It will be demonstrated that the underlying theme of
these various sources of political insight is that citizens should have the right to life, liberty, and
possessions, the equal treatment under the law, and freedom to practice their own religion.
In “Document C: Excerpt from Two Treatises of Government”, John Locke notes that one
critical right that all citizens should have is the right to life, liberty, and possessions, provided
that these liberties do not infringe upon the life, liberty, and possessions of others. He further
states that while man has “an uncontrollable liberty to dispose of his person or possessions”, that
“no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions…” Locke goes on to say
that no one should “take away, or impair, the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life,
liberty, health, limb, or goods of another,” unless it is “to do justice on an offender”. Thus, it is
clear that John Locke believed that while liberty, possessions, and life are all important rights for
citizens, there are still limits on these rights, so as to not impinge on the rights of one’s fellow
citizens.
Another important liberty citizen should possess is the right to equal treatment under the
law. More specifically, this means that any citizen, regardless of factors such as socioeconomic
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status, gender, race, et cetera, is subject to the same laws and the same justice. Catherine the
Great was an extremely successful monarch who helped transform her country into a modern
power and it is therefore worth noting that she drafted a law code that made use of the right to
equal treatment under the law. This was exemplified in “Document D: Excerpt from ‘Proposals
for a New Law Code’” when it was written that all citizens “should be subject to the same
Laws.” In addition to this, the document also mentioned that all citizens “should stand in Fear of
the same Laws…” It is evident thus that the right to equal treatment under the law is a critical
right for citizens of any society, and has been since early times in modern civilization.
In addition to all this, the right to choose and practice a religion of one’s choosing freely
is vital for citizens in an exemplary society. This right and its benefits are epitomized in
“Document E: Excerpt from the Bill of Rights” when it was stated that “Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise [of religion] …” In
other words, the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights stated that the government cannot favor a
certain religion or restrict the practicing of any religion. Furthermore, a law giving religious
rights to citizens is important in a society in order to reduce oppression and increase overall
contentment.
Equal treatment by the law, life, liberty, and possessions, and the right to practice any
religion freely are all right that citizens ought to possess. By utilizing information from the Bill
of Rights, Catherine the Great, and John Locke, it has been shown that these rights are important
for citizens. Catherine the Great’s law code supported equal treatment of all people by the law
and John Locke was an avid supporter of the right to life, possessions, and liberty. Additionally,
the Bill of Rights upheld the right to religious freedom. In sum, these rights should be present for
all citizens.
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References*
“Document C: Excerpt form Two Treatises of Government”
“Document D: Excerpt from ‘Proposals for a New Law Code”
“Document E: Excerpt from the Bill of Rights.”
*Since the references were in word documents, there was not much information to put into the
citations.