Lesson 3: Unalienable Rights

Garment workers at a hosiery factory in England

Unalienable Rights

The word unalienable is not pronounced as is commonly heard: un – alien (as in the creatures in flying saucers) – able. Thus it has nothing to do with the legal concept of aliens, or foreigners, or our rights.

The true pronunciation is un – a lien – (as in a bank lien, or tax lien on a piece of property) – able. This legal term has direct reference to the non-transferability of property.

“Those rights we have been endowed with by God. These are unalienable – or non-transferable.” - Kyle Roberts

God given rights might include Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. But what other rights do you think God gave you?

Is movement a God-given right?

Is food a God-given right?

Is health care a God-given right?

Is the right to live in a house transferable?

Is the right to drive a car transferable?

Is the right to have a certain person as a husband or wife transferable?

Why can't you keep a dinosaur bone you found?

Who gave the government the power of military force?

Who gave the government the power to prohibit profanity on Television?

Who gave women the right to vote? Some rights are created by the government and issued to the people. These are privileges and immunities granted by the government to the people. Civil rights and human rights might be included here.

Who gives refugees the right to enter another country?

Who gives people permission to fly in airplanes?

Who gives you the right to disagree with a law or policy?

What rights do you have when you are arrested by the police?

The children in the photograph at the top did not have very many rights. Lewis Hine, the photographer, believed that if people could see for themselves the abuses and injustice of child labor, they would demand laws to end those evils. In 1916, Congress passed a law, the Keating-Owens Act, which established child labor standards. However it was declared unconstitutional. Real child labor reform was enacted in the New Deal by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Four Classes of Rights

Essentially, there are four classes of rights – or authorizations to act.

First, those rights we have been endowed with by God. These are unalienable – or non-transferable.

Second, those rights we may call individual rights. These consist of all other rights we possess outside our unalienable rights. These are transferable as we see fit.

Third, the powers, or rights, of the government. These are those powers delegated by the people to the various government entities. Above I noted that the founders equated government powers with government rights.

Fourth, those rights created by the government and issued to the people. These are privileges and immunities granted by the government to the people. So-called human and civil rights fall in this category. The great constitutional example is the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.

Watch a reenactment of a colonial protest against the right to tax without representation

1765 Stamp Act Protest Reenactment

Which city is trying to get representation? Answer

Image Credit: Unknown / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain