Your Rights More Easily Understood

American citizens are privileged to live in the light of human rights that are protected by codified (a written code of) freedoms. Some are self-evident;others are constructed by human events.

In the second paragraph of the Declaration, the Founding Fathers pen foundational rights: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and gifted by their Creator with inseparable rights. Among these are the right to life,the right to live in freedom (liberty) and the right to pursue happiness with the chance to succeed. "

In the process of living out these  God-given rights, other rights become evident. They are confirmed by life-proven experience. The first 10 Amendments (ratified in 1791) are called The Bill of Rights because these enumerate fundamental freedoms that the federal government cannot take away.

Wisdon led the Founders to know that the Constitution would be tried by the fire human interactions and legal challenges. There would be a need for the Constitution to flex with justice. That's why they wrote in Article V, changing the Constitution by Amendments. 

This takes:

1) two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass the amendment,

2) three-fourths of the state legislatures (38 of 50 states) to ratify the Amendment, and

3) special ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the 50 states to ratify it.

Over time,the Declaration was amended 27 times relating to the most common activities of the citizenry.