Originally Posted by RichieLion

The thing is; the emancipation of the blacks following the Civil War is a prime and perfect example of the recognition of "rights of the individual", the primary tenet of conservatism as opposed to socialism . The blacks had to be recognized first as equal human beings and then their individual rights were self evident in this "land of the free". This was not a case of the government granting the blacks rights. It was government that allowed their subjugation. They had to be freed FROM the government who's laws facilitated the practice of slavery.