Human rights were defined in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations in 1948. It was a historic step brought about in response to the horrors of World War 11. Article 1 of the declaration states, "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." Article 2 states, "Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

President Jimmy Carter's administration(1977-81) made human rights an important aspect of American foreign policy; those countries that violated human rights were less likely to have good relations with the U.S. than those who observed those rights. Human rights continue to be an important factor in U.S. relations with the rest of the world. In the 1990s, the debate over U.S. relations with China revolved around China's poor human rights record, and whether that was reason enough to cancel China's Most Favored Nation (MFN) trading status with the U.S. (MFN was granted permanently to China in 2000.)