The original Declaration of Independence established citizens to be an exclusive class of white, educated, male, landowners. They saw no room to include any other demographic. Up until modern times, many people would have been satisfied with Richard Braungart s definition, which reads, Citizenship involves the rights, obligations, and identification of each member of society with the constitutional state . Today however, citizenship has taken on a new structure for many Americans. It now involves duty, honor, and character that coincide with our civic privileges.
Rights are privileges that are bestowed upon people by their country when they declare alliance.
Rights have become an essential part of American life because they exhibit our freedom as citizens. It was the Bill of Rights that helped ease the colonists minds about the questionable ratification of the Constitution. Some rights do not stand-alone however. Suffrage has been a privileged that many women and minorities struggled to obtain. While it is a powerful right to possess, many Americans do not take advantage of this duty and neglect to vote each November.