What is the similarities between the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of Rights of Man?

• The obvious choice would be to compare the two great declarations…because they have a ton in common. The Marquis de Lafayette based much of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen on the ideas and words of his friend Thomas Jefferson, who helped draft this declaration too.

  The two aren't exactly alike, they set out to accomplish very different goals, including trying to stick-it to very different kings, but they overlap in a lot of their Enlightenment era thinking.

• While the Declaration of Independence mentions equality and the idea that mankind has certain rights that can never be taken away, it stops short of actually listing them outright.

  That task is left up to James Madison, who wrote the Bill of Rights. It was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1789…the same summer that the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was written.

  Coincidence? Probably not.

  Madison was a good friend of Jefferson, who was serving as Ambassador to France and hanging out with Lafayette while all these rights were being put into lists. They frequently shared ideas and read drafts of each other's writing, so the Bill of Rights for both America and France were created at the same time by cross-Atlantic pen pals.

• One of the biggest, most revolutionary ideas within the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen is popular sovereignty. You know: letting the people participate in their government by voting politicians in and out of office.

  One of the Enlightened philosophers who suggested popular sovereignty was the Englishman John Locke. He wasn't the first to come up with it, but through his writings he repeatedly championed the idea that people should be allowed some kind of say in their government.

  Like most Enlightenment thinkers, he was stealing ideas from the republic of ancient Rome and updating them with modern ideas of representation that reflected the will of the people. His thoughts would probably not have been popular with King Louis XVI, who thought that the only government participation people should have is politely asking him for something.

• Rousseau was a French-Swiss guy who suggested getting rid of the class system decades before the French Revolution. And that makes him a strong influence on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

  Rousseau had some ideas that were way ahead of his time. He suggested that there's a social contract between leaders and the people they govern. If the contract is violated, the people should replace their leaders—a bold idea in a time of monarchies. He also said that when society makes distinctions between people—like calling some of them nobles and others peasants—that's the root of all inequality and unhappiness in the world.

  He took this idea to the extreme by suggesting people were better off living in the wilderness without the burdens of society. Most people choose not to go that far (um, modern plumbing is also a major source of human happiness).

  Even without people running off to the woods, he probably would have really liked the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen; it was finally putting his philosophy to use.

• Hidden within the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen is the idea that citizens have the right to start a revolution if their government isn't treating them fairly—which is a pretty bombastic statement to make.

  Remember that the Declaration blames all France's problems on the corruption of the monarchy and the National Assembly is trying to do something about it. This idea of fighting against tyranny comes from a 13th-century saint named Thomas Aquinas. He said it was okay to curb the powers of a monarch in order to avoid oppression, which by the way is not very Christian.

  Aquinas was kinda one of the first people to start asking kings WWJD. According to him, Jesus said not to become a dictator and take advantage of your power. We think that's probably good advice.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, passed by France’s National Constituent Assembly in August 1789, is a fundamental document of the French Revolution that granted civil rights to some commoners, although it excluded a significant segment of the French population.

Identify the main points in the Declaration of the Rights of Man

Key Points

• The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1791) is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human and civil rights. The inspiration and content of the document emerged largely from the ideals of the American Revolution. The key drafts were prepared by General Lafayette, working at times with his close friend Thomas Jefferson.
• The concepts in the Declaration come from the tenets of the Enlightenment, including individualism, the social contract as theorized by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the separation of powers espoused by Montesquieu. The spirit of secular natural law rests at the foundations of the Declaration.
• At the time of writing, the rights contained in the declaration were only awarded to men. Furthermore, the declaration was a statement of vision rather than reality as it was not deeply rooted in the practice of the West or even France at the time. It embodied ideals toward which France pledged to aspire in the future.
• While the French Revolution provided rights to a larger portion of the population, there remained a distinction between those who obtained the political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and those who did not. Those who were deemed to hold these rights were called active citizens, a designation granted to men who were French, at least 25 years old, paid taxes equal to three days of work, and could not be defined as servants.
• Tensions arose between active and passive citizens throughout the Revolution and the question of women’s rights emerged as particularly prominent. The Declaration did not recognize women as active citizens. The absence of women’s rights prompted Olympe de Gouges to publish the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen in September 1791.
• The Declaration did not revoke the institution of slavery, as lobbied for by Jacques-Pierre Brissot’s Les Amis des Noirs and defended by the group of colonial planters called the Club Massiac. However, it played an important rhetorical role in the Haitian Revolution.

social contract A theory or model that originated during the Age of Enlightenment that typically addresses the questions of the origin of society and the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Its arguments typically posit that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the ruler or magistrate (or to the decision of a majority) in exchange for protection of their remaining rights. The question of the relation between natural and legal rights, therefore, is often an aspect of this theory. The term comes from a 1762 book by Jean-Jacques Rousseau which discussed this concept. separation of powers A model for the governance of a state (or who controls the state) first developed in ancient Greece. Under this model, the state is divided into branches, each with separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with the powers associated with the other branches. The typical division of branches is legislative, executive, and judiciary. natural law A philosophy that certain rights or values are inherent by virtue of human nature and can be universally understood through human reason. Historically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze both social and personal human nature to deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Although it is often conflated with common law, the two are distinct. Common law is not based on inherent rights, but is the legal tradition whereby certain rights or values are legally recognized by virtue of already having judicial recognition or articulation. March on Versailles A march began during the French Revolution among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of October 5, 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries, who were seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. The market women and their various allies grew into a crowd of thousands. Encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen A fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human and civil rights passed by France’s National Constituent Assembly in August 1789. It was influenced by the doctrine of natural right, stating that the rights of man are held to be universal. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by law.

The representatives of the French People, formed into a National Assembly, considering ignorance, forgetfulness or contempt of the rights of man to be the only causes of public misfortunes and the corruption of Governments, have resolved to set forth, in a solemn Declaration, the natural, unalienable and sacred rights of man, to the end that this Declaration, constantly present to all members of the body politic, may remind them unceasingly of their rights and their duties; to the end that the acts of the legislative power and those of the executive power, since they may be continually compared with the aim of every political institution, may thereby be the more respected; to the end that the demands of the citizens, founded henceforth on simple and incontestable principles, may always be directed toward the maintenance of the Constitution and the happiness of all.

In consequence whereof, the National Assembly recognises and declares, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

Article first

Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on considerations of the common good.

Article 2

The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of Man. These rights are Liberty, Property, Safety and Resistance to Oppression.

Article 3

The principle of any Sovereignty lies primarily in the Nation. No corporate body, no individual may exercise any authority that does not expressly emanate from it.

Article 4

Liberty consists in being able to do anything that does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of every man has no bounds other than those that ensure to the other members of society the enjoyment of these same rights. These bounds may be determined only by Law.

Article 5

The Law has the right to forbid only those actions that are injurious to society. Nothing that is not forbidden by Law may be hindered, and no one may be compelled to do what the Law does not ordain.

Article 6

The Law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to take part, personally or through their representatives, in its making. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in its eyes, shall be equally eligible to all high offices, public positions and employments, according to their ability, and without other distinction than that of their virtues and talents.

Article 7

No man may be accused, arrested or detained except in the cases determined by the Law, and following the procedure that it has prescribed. Those who solicit, expedite, carry out, or cause to be carried out arbitrary orders must be punished; but any citizen summoned or apprehended by virtue of the Law, must give instant obedience; resistance makes him guilty.

Article 8

The Law must prescribe only the punishments that are strictly and evidently necessary; and no one may be punished except by virtue of a Law drawn up and promulgated before the offense is committed, and legally applied.

Article 9

As every man is presumed innocent until he has been declared guilty, if it should be considered necessary to arrest him, any undue harshness that is not required to secure his person must be severely curbed by Law.

Article 10

No one may be disturbed on account of his opinions, even religious ones, as long as the manifestation of such opinions does not interfere with the established Law and Order.

Article 11

The free communication of ideas and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man. Any citizen may therefore speak, write and publish freely, except what is tantamount to the abuse of this liberty in the cases determined by Law.

Article 12

To guarantee the Rights of Man and of the Citizen a public force is necessary; this force is therefore established for the benefit of all, and not for the particular use of those to whom it is entrusted.

Article 13

For the maintenance of the public force, and for administrative expenses, a general tax is indispensable; it must be equally distributed among all citizens, in proportion to their ability to pay.

Article 14

All citizens have the right to ascertain, by themselves, or through their representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it freely, to watch over its use, and to determine its proportion, basis, collection and duration.

Article 15

Society has the right to ask a public official for an accounting of his administration.

Article 16

Any society in which no provision is made for guaranteeing rights or for the separation of powers, has no Constitution.

Article 17

Since the right to Property is inviolable and sacred, no one may be deprived thereof, unless public necessity, legally ascertained, obviously requires it, and just and prior indemnity has been paid.