Without the rule of law - remembering that laws change and evolve - there would have been no advances in civil rights, and the "Rights of Man" would have never given rise to freedom in France and America by limiting the power of kings and nobles.
Without the rule of law - remembering that laws change and evolve - there would have been no freedom from slavery, no women suffrage and no civil rights movement, And, of course, those changes in the law, and in society, always followed great struggle.
So over time and with struggle, we reinterpret what is right and become more inclusive as we discover that the changes sought in the name of social justice are good for the larger society - even when they are at first very difficult for those who have had to accommodate change against their will, like the nobility of Europe, the king of England and white men everywhere.
Source: http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story_pf.php?id=284374&ac=PHedi