One of the main and most important goals of any legislation is to protect and ensure the rights of citizens. It is thanks to this principle that people both experience love for the country and feel safe. In turn, this creates conditions for the state under which development becomes the most convenient and efficient. However, at different times the laws of the state change, adjusting to the most relevant context. Using the example of the Mason Declaration of Rights and the Bill of Rights, it is necessary to consider the environment of time periods.
It is necessary to start with the fact that both documents are aimed at regulating the rights of people in society, ensuring their effective interaction. Unlike the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the list of natural rights in the Declaration of Independence does not mention property rights (Friedman, 2019). Since according to the views of T. Jefferson, B. Franklin, reflecting the mood of the American lower classes, private property was not considered a natural right. In this sense, T. Jefferson did not agree with J. Locke regarding the broad interpretation of the concept of “property” (Kennedy et al., 2018). It should be noted that the freedom and equality proclaimed by the Declaration of Independence were limited. In particular, the Founding Fathers remained conservative regarding the issue of women’s position in the social structure of society. The Declaration of Independence sidestepped this issue, despite the fact that the movement for women’s rights was already gaining momentum at that time (Friedman, 2019). At that time, women were strengthening their position, they needed the expansion of political and other rights.
As a result, one can notice the similarity between the Mason Declaration of Rights and the Bill of Rights, which allows you to determine the values of the state. In other words, regardless of the time period, it is vital for the United States both to consolidate the foundations of capitalism by defining property, and to empower all subjects of civil society. Thus, the stability of the American constitutional order, the inviolability of its fundamental principles, that have remained relevant for three centuries and to this day.
References
Friedman, L. M. (2019). A history of American law. Oxford University Press.
Kennedy, D., Fisher, W. W. and Fisher III, W. W. (2018). The canon of American legal thought. Princeton University Press.