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Elizabeth Cady Stanton And Human Rights Essay

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Elizabeth Cady Stanton And Human Rights Essay
February 6th is a day that will forever be remembered by Patriot fans around the nation as the day Tom Brady led the greatest comeback in modern football to become a five-time Super Bowl champion. However, for millions more, this day is representative of a long human rights debate that began over centuries ago. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Edmund Burke, and Jeremy Bentham met on this day to have an important debate over human rights. Stanton gave her viewpoint on the issue, then we heard a conservative contradiction from Edmund Burke, and a utilitarian contradiction from Jeremy Bentham. In order to articulate this debateeffectively, this article will begin with the summation of Elizabeth Canton’s argument, then move to Burke and Bentham. Through …show more content…
Stanton asserts that government was created in order to protect our rights endowed to us by the creator, and when governments do not fulfil their purpose, citizens no longer owe the state their allegiance (Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. 1848). In Stanton’s famous Declaration of Sentiments, she listed many grievances she held against the United States government. Women were not treated as equals under the law, and lacked many basic rights that males were afforded. When women got married, they would lose their identity, becoming legally dead and private property would be transferred to the husband, these are only two of many examples of how the government violated their duty according to …show more content…
Burke spoke to the origin of human rights, the slippery slope human rights creates, and the changing of government. Burke does not believe in rights endowed by a creator. However, he does agree with Stanton that natural law does exist. It is disagreed upon, on how it can be interpreted and applied to the human rights question. Stanton uses the concept of natural law as another justification of human rights, while Burke believes that rights cannot be derived from it (Lauren, Paul Gordon. 1998. P.25). Burke stated that public affirmation of human rights would lead to political and societal upheaval. The equality being promised through human rights is false, and can never

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