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What does individual rights mean? Individual rights are the fundamental rights guaranteed by a government so that every individual citizen can live a free and equitable life. These rights are not be interfered with or obstructed by any other individual or government agency. Often these rights are guaranteed by an official document such as the United States Constitution, the United States Bill of Rights, the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The idea of individual rights goes back to the start of civilization. But there is an evident proliferation in support of these rights during the era of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment occurred from roughly 1685 to 1815 and was a period of a widespread shift in philosophy towards how people viewed authority and their role in society. Institutions like monarchy were questioned, and the idea that government ought to guarantee innumerable rights of people started to spread. One enlightenment writer, John Locke, is famous for his belief that the government is only in power due to the consent of the governed and that all citizens have a natural right to life, liberty, and estate. These ideas would later be adapted by Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Individual Rights are often associated with democracy, a government system where the power resides with the people.