natural rights

Cultural  

1. Rights that people supposedly have under natural law. The Declaration of Independence of the United States lists life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as natural rights.

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Example Sentences

"We stand at the edge of a new era - one where our natural rights will prevail," she told viewers.

From BBC

Washington wrote back warmly: “All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Persico sides with scholars who find the rudiments of natural rights in the medieval period.

From The Wall Street Journal

Leaning heavily on Jeffersonian rhetoric, the Browns called on the “oppressed” populace to rise and assert “their natural rights” as “citizens of a free republic.”

From The Wall Street Journal

For Locke, the state of nature’s material bounty meant that governments were required to respect the “natural rights” of individuals, including the right to own private property.

From Slate

Related Words

• freedom
• freedom of religion
• freedom of speech
• human rights