ARP 363b Declaration of the Rights of Man

This declaration was a key document of the early French Revolution.  Although Lafayette produced the original draft, he consulted with Thomas Jefferson, who was still the American Minister to France at the time.  You will hear a great deal of the same enlightenment principles that we heard in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.  It clearly shows the American influence on the principles of the French Revolution.  

Of course the ideals that took root in America, were also based on the work of earlier French leaders like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and The Baron de Montequieu.  I don’t mean to say that the American founders invented the ideas.  But the success of those ideas in the American Revolution prompted many in France to bring those ideas forward in their own country.

Lafayette’s original draft went through some changes in the National Assembly  before its final release.  He introduced it on July 11, 1789, just days before a Paris mob attacked and destroyed the Bastille.  It did face controversy in a divided government before finally being approved at the end of August. 

I will now read the Declaration of the rights of Man as approved by the National Assembly.

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Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789

Approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789

The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and redound to the happiness of all. Therefore the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:

Articles:

1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.

2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.

4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.

5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.

6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents.

7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting, transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue of the law shall submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense.

8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offense.

9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely repressed by law.

10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law.

11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.

12. The security of the rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be intrusted.

13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of the public forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.

14. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes.

15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of his administration.

16. A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.

17. Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously and equitably indemnified.

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Ok, so that was the declaration.  In many ways, this was bringing the radicalism that had taken root in America back to Europe.  The ideals expressed, like due process, equality under the law, freedom of religion and communications, were not exactly new ideas, but having a government that enforced these ideals through the will of the people, rather than leaving all power with a monarch or even a group of aristocrats, was a radical idea.

These ideals would be challenged and even crushed at times over the course of the French Revolution.  But the Declaration stood as a beacon to which the French people would try to return again and again.  As we all know, freedom is not a gift bestowed by our leaders.  We, the descendants of the ideals of both the American and French Revolutions, know that we are in nearly continuous battle with our government to ensure that they do not infringe on our rights.  Having a Declaration like this one, that stood the test of time, is an important way of keeping our society moored to these timeless principles.

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From the transcipt: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp