Exploring The Relationship Between The Individual And The National Government

The Individual and the National Government
Rights define the power and privileges to which people have a just claim. Since the time of ancient republics like Rome, individuals were understood to have certain rights that were imperative to defend. In the aftermath of the revolutionary war, the new nation’s leaders wanted to create a state that respected the individual and civil rights, following the model of the Ancient Romans and Greeks. As a result, they ensured that they came up with effective legislation, which made sure that there existed a concrete relationship between the individual and the national government. Since a free government focuses on securing specific individual rights, the established government saw that a having a structured

The document was the first to offer constitutional protection of individual rights to the citizens. The document rejected the notion of a privileged political class and hereditary offices. The document itself influenced a number of documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and France’s Declaration of the rights of man, after the French Revolution. When we consider the relationship between the individual and state, Section I and Section III of the document assist us to understand the relationship between the individual and the national government. Section I of the document declared that all people were born equal and free and possessed liberties and rights that the society could not deprive (The Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776). Section III explains that the government became instituted for the benefit, security and protection of all people. As such, viewing the two sections, we realize that even though individuals inherently have rights, the government needs to ensure that the rights remain safeguarded. I realize that the role of the government was ensuring the protection of individual rights. Citizens needed the government to ensure that their personal liberties remained

The parts included a Preamble, the Declaration of Rights and also provided a Frame of Government. The Preamble announced that the document became formed by a voluntary association of people. As such, the document became a social compact, with the people who ratified it agreeing to be governed by laws it established. The Declaration of Rights had several articles. Article I, like the Virginia Declaration of Rights defined that all people were equal, had a right to live, own property, and seek safety and happiness. Article II declared religious freedom; Article III declared that people had the power to invest their leaders with authority to act on religious matters (Constitution of Massachusetts, 1780). The Massachusetts Declaration of rights makes it evident that individual liberty had a higher priority compared to government legislature. It was within the rights of the individuals to provide the legislature with its power to govern and make a decision. The method ensured that no tyrants emerged, who would oppress people, as such, securing the liberty of all