"Our political and constitutional rights, so called, are but the natural and inherent rights of man, asserted, carried out, and secured by modes of human contrivance"
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Smith strips the shine off "constitutional rights" by calling them "so called" and then demoting them to something older, rougher, and less polite: the natural rights you have before parchment, courts, or a flag. The jab is subtle but unmistakable. If rights are only "constitutional", they can be amended away, interpreted into oblivion, or parceled out to the deserving. Smith is insisting on a higher ledger. The Constitution is not the source; it is a tool - a set of "modes of human contrivance" designed to secure what already belongs to people.
That last phrase does more work than it seems. "Contrivance" sounds ingenious and slightly suspicious, as if the machinery of law is both necessary and perpetually at risk of being gamed. Smith is praising institutional design while warning against treating institutions as moral authorities. In his frame, law is scaffolding around an ethical claim; if the scaffolding collapses, the claim remains.
Context sharpens the stakes. Smith was a radical abolitionist and reform politician in an America where "rights" talk often meant rights for white men, defended by constitutional technicalities. By grounding liberty in nature rather than statute, he undermines every legalistic defense of slavery and exclusion: if human rights are inherent, no "mode" can legitimately deny them - it can only fail to secure them. The line is a political move disguised as political philosophy, designed to shame a nation that confuses paperwork for justice and calls that confusion governance.
That last phrase does more work than it seems. "Contrivance" sounds ingenious and slightly suspicious, as if the machinery of law is both necessary and perpetually at risk of being gamed. Smith is praising institutional design while warning against treating institutions as moral authorities. In his frame, law is scaffolding around an ethical claim; if the scaffolding collapses, the claim remains.
Context sharpens the stakes. Smith was a radical abolitionist and reform politician in an America where "rights" talk often meant rights for white men, defended by constitutional technicalities. By grounding liberty in nature rather than statute, he undermines every legalistic defense of slavery and exclusion: if human rights are inherent, no "mode" can legitimately deny them - it can only fail to secure them. The line is a political move disguised as political philosophy, designed to shame a nation that confuses paperwork for justice and calls that confusion governance.
Quote Details
| Topic | Human Rights |
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