#pre1865

In the years leading up to the American Civil War, territories within central Northern America were still being formed into states. This meant, as mentioned in this article regarding states' rights, that states' constitutions were very much up for debate by a central congress. At the time a line stretching across the middle of the country separated free states (those without slavery) from slave states in the south. According to law, those living in states above the line were not allowed to keep slaves. New states, like Nebraska and Kansas, theoretically lay above the line but a doctrine passed by Stephen Douglas stated that these new states could be claimed as either free or pro-slavery, and that this decision would be put to vote. Stephen Douglas' interests lay in a trans-national railway line meaning that he needed the territories to become states but didn't want enemies from the abolitionist or slave movement.

As strong pro and anti-slavery movements were already established, northerners and southerners from both sides flocked to Kansas in 1857 to steal votes for their lobby. A victory for abolitionists in both Kansas and Nebraska outnumbered free territories to slave territories 17:15, and also created the Republican Party, named after Thomas Jefferson's Republicanism, of which he wrote:

"that union we so much value... and in which alone we see liberty, safety and happiness."

Jefferson's ideology aligned very strongly with the lifestyle of the north, and so the Republican party quickly gained popularity with the free states. It is also important to note that, as quoted, Jefferson and the Republican party were anti-secessionist, and, equally of note, that the party has evolved a great deal and had a very different meaning in the 19th Century. Republicanism at the time meant only a democratic (democratic for a certain class of white men) state completely annexed from the authority of a monarch, and was, by many standards, far from the right-wing ideology we associate with the Republican party of the present day.

Digressing from that, the Republican party was almost successful in its bid for presidency in 1858, and, by the election of 1860, a strange situation arose whereby Republicanism was almost universally accepted in the north and completely reviled in the south. This was due to a supreme court decision that essentially meant that no person of colour in North America was safe from the threat of slavery and that, as long as one white person stood before a court and denounced someone as a former slave, they could be re-sold into the practice, further alienating the north and south from each other.

This alienation was only shown further in the election. Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, historically earned no votes whatsoever in exactly nine states, but won a majority due to the population density in the north, and was hence instated as president. This was the final straw for the South, and as tensions came to breaking point, in chronological order, the states South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee seceded from the Union to become the Confederacy, and, from this, arose the American Civil War.

Oxford English Dictionary:

plural noun

1. The rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality.

Civil rights, in their most basic form, are laws. These laws enable legal citizens (and, to an extent, those who are not citizens) personal protections. In the US, these laws are made at state, federal and supreme court level. To explain in simple terms, states are allowed to pass laws. These laws exist only within their own state (eg. Missouri), and are managed by local government. Federal law made at supreme court level supersedes state law. To put this into perspective, take the recent same-sex marriage ruling. Prior to the supreme court's decision, states were able to choose whether they enacted the law that allowed people of the same gender** to marry. This rate of legalization was slow and meant that across the states progress was unequal. When the law was passed at the supreme court, it was mandatory for every state to take up the bill, regardless of their current position on the topic.

Examples of this are Roe vs Wade and Gitlow vs New York.

Civil rights are not the same as civil liberties. Civil liberties refer to restrictions on the government limiting personal freedoms, for example, the second amendment. The second amendment states that every man has a right to bear arms. This means that the government is not allowed to stop you from carrying a gun, although there are discrepancies within state laws that may be harsher on guns than others. Civil rights, however, are laws passed that stop a majority taking advantage of a minority, and are more to do with egalitarianism than anything else.

Many philosophers have had different ideas throughout history about civil rights, and it has, in general, been a rather dangerous topic. One of the earliest bills, and arguably the most important in history, was the magna carta, signed in June 1215 by the English king John. This legislature gave a set of rules for how people should behave regarding personal rights and freedoms, especially to those in other sovereign nations. Other documents, such as the Rights of Man by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, gave politically biased ideas around civil rights. If we can say anything at all about civil rights, it is that there is a slow push forwards, and very rarely do we see a complete reversion.