I. The American Tradition: Certain Unalienable Rights.

The conventional theory of civil rights in the U.S. 'pictures these grand but elusive concepts as a set of ideas imported from England at the earliest possible date. They come in neatly wrapped in articles of incorporation for a trading company or in the colonial charters. Out of them American liberty is born. Never clearly defined, these rights serve the colonists as a defense against royal governors, kingly usurpation and parliamentary interference. Eventually, clad in the armor of a righteous cause, mysterious yet powerful, they play their role in arousing, sustaining and winning the American Revolution.