The influence of natural rights on the development of modern human rights theory cannot be overstated. One of the most notable examples is the U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776), a document that explicitly draws from natural rights principles. In declaring independence from British rule, the American colonists grounded their moral justification in the belief that they were entitled to “certain unalienable Rights,” among them “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Declaration famously asserts that these rights are “endowed by their Creator,” which reflects the natural rights tradition’s appeal to a higher, universal moral order that exists independently of any government or political system.

This idea—that people possess inherent rights that no government has the authority to violate—served as the foundation for the revolutionary call for self-governance and liberty. The Declaration of Independence was radical for its time because it rejected the notion that rights were privileges bestowed by a monarch or ruling class. Instead, it affirmed that all people are born with rights that must be respected by any legitimate government, and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. If a government fails to protect these natural rights, the people have the moral authority to alter or abolish it.

Similarly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations in 1948, is another landmark document deeply influenced by the natural rights tradition. Drafted in the aftermath of World War II, the UDHR was an attempt to create a global framework for human rights, based on the belief that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The UDHR echoes the natural rights philosophy by asserting that fundamental rights—such as the right to life, liberty, and security—are inherent to every person and are not contingent upon the laws or customs of any particular country.

In fact, the preamble of the UDHR directly references the “inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.” This language reflects the natural rights view that certain rights exist prior to and independently of any legal recognition. The drafters of the UDHR were acutely aware of the atrocities committed by totalitarian regimes, and they sought to enshrine principles that no government could legitimately violate. The universal applicability of these rights, regardless of cultural, legal, or political differences, is one of the enduring legacies of the natural rights tradition.