Slavery, Civil Rights and the Constitution

In order to examine the progression of the civil rights movement we must first understand what is meant by the phrase “Civil Rights”. What are civil rights? Although the term has no precise meaning in American law a persons “Civil Rights” in literal terms is generally understood to be a political or social concept referring to the guarantee of freedom, justice, and equality that a state may make to its citizens. Civil rights are the driving force behind the idea that that the state should play an active role in ensuring all citizens have equal protection under the law and equal opportunity to exercise the privileges of citizenship. The privilege of citizenship is the full participation in every aspect of national life, regardless of race, religion, sex, or any other characteristics, which have no bearing on the worth of an individual. If a government is to ensure truly equal protection of rights for all of its citizens it must support the civil liberties of freedom of spee...