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Line 1: − + + − The U.S. [[Declaration of Independence]] says that people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." + − <ref>http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html</ref>+ + − + − + − + + + + + + + + + + +
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'''Human rights''' are generally held to be the basic [[rights]] and [[freedom]]s to which all humans are entitled, entirely by virtue of their status as human beings.
'''Human rights''' are generally held to be the basic [[rights]] and [[freedom]]s to which all humans are entitled, entirely by virtue of their status as human beings.
==History: 1689 to 1900==
==European history==
The [[English Bill of Rights]] of 1689 was the world's first major declaration of rights, and it influenced the American, French and all other declarations.
The [[English Bill of Rights]] of 1689 was the world's first major declaration of rights, and it influenced the American, French and all other declarations.
The [[French Revolution]] adopted a [[ Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] in 1789.
In the 19th century the concept spread rapidly through Europe and the colonial empires. Prime Minister [[William Gladstone]], based British foreign policy in the late 19th century on opposition to violations of human rights, especially in the [[Ottoman Empire]].
==American History==
The [[Declaration of Independence]] of the United States in 1776 says that people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
The American [[Bill of Rights]] is based on the [{English Bill of Rights]] of 1689. The [[French Revolution]] adopted a [[ Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] in 1789.
The American [[Bill of Rights]] of 1789 was based on the [{English Bill of Rights]] of 1689.
In the19th century the concept spread rapidly through Europe and the colonial empires. Prime Minister [[William Gladstone]], based British foreign policy in the late 19th century on opposition to violations of human rights, especially in the [[Ottoman Empire]].
[[Georgia Washington]] in his 1796 [[Farewell Address]] warned against foreign alliances and suggested the American mission to bring liberty to the world would be best served by avoiding wars, perfecting [[republicanism]] at home, and becoming a model for the world. Indeed there were no foreign entanglements until 1917.
==20th century==
There was a strong sense--which continues to this day--that a major American mission is to spread democracy in the world, with the belief that democratic governments will avoid abuses of human rights.
In the late 19th century Americans paved more and more attention to human rights abuses abroad. The [[Irish Americans]] were especially angry at British refusal to allow for the independence of Ireland. {{American Jews]] were alarmed at the murderous pogroms of Jews in Russia. All Americans were angered by the brutal Spanish suppression of freedom movements in Cuba; this anger directly caused the [[Spanish American War]] in 1898, which resulted in a small American empire. In each case Americans argued that the denial of democracy was the root cause of the human rights abuses.
American were outraged by German brutality in Belgium in 1914, and by the German sinking of an unarmed passenger liner the ''"[[Lusitania]]"'' in 1915. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] forced the Germans to abandon attacks on merchant ships--and when Germany resumed in 1917, he asked Congress for a declaration of war. Americans were aghast at the Turkish slaughter of Armenians --the [[Armenian Genocide]] of 1915; for a while in 1919 there was talk of making Armenia an American protectorate, but nothing came of that.
Meanwhile, Wilson was outraged at the extreme violations of human rights and democracy in Mexico, and intervened in the civil war raging there. The intervention ended in 1916 as the greater crisis of German threats was at hand.
Promoting [[Wilsonianism]] as the expression of American idealism in world affairs, especially regarding democracy and human rights<ref> the Term "human rights" was not commonly used before 1945.</ref>, Wilson promulgated the idealistic principles of the [[Fourteen Points]], and at the [[Versailles Conference]] in 1919 he exerted enormous influence to lead the world to democracy and a [[League of nations]] that would prevent wars and promote democracy. He succeeded in part, and the LEague was created, but the U.S. Senate rejected the League and the U.S. never joined.
==Post World War II==
In the 20th century, secular concepts of human rights proliferated: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the American Convention on Human Rights; the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights; the European Convention of Human Rights; various UN conferences' declarations on the environment, economic development, AIDS, and other topics; and the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols.
In the 20th century, secular concepts of human rights proliferated: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the American Convention on Human Rights; the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights; the European Convention of Human Rights; various UN conferences' declarations on the environment, economic development, AIDS, and other topics; and the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols.