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Why We Have Human Rights Laws
A Brief History of Human Rights from Locke to the UN General Assembly
Human rights, as we know them today, are thought to have originated from the West — especially from those who celebrate the influence of “Judeo-Christian values.” But similar philosophical principles can also be found in Confucian, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions.
The protection of human freedom and a sense of dignity can be traced as far back to Hammurabi’s Code in Babylon (approximately 1780 BCE). Although, human rights as we know them today can more closely be traced from (1) the Magna Carta of 1215, a contract between King John and the Barons who were against the harsh taxes admonished by the monarchy, and (2) the English Bill of Rights of 1689. Contracts that had little to do with religion and more to do with tax exemption.
The work that followed marked the development of human rights as we know them today.
John Locke & Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The modern world brought much development when it came to human rights, primarily because of all the killing caused by religious disputes, but also because monarchies were losing authority.
Locke’s Second Treatise of Government (1690) called for the government to uphold the “natural…
