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Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

The National Constituent Assembly of France

1789; English translation by Thomas Paine, 1791 · 18th Century · Political Theory · French

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Abstract

Written: 1789
Setting: The French Revolution; Versailles (France)
Author: The National Constituent Assembly of France; trans. Thomas Paine (1791)
Country: France
Language: French
Genre: Declaration of rights
Form: A preamble and seventeen articles
Recommended: Grades 9–12 (Short and clear; eighteenth-century translation.)

Moment. Weeks after the Bastille fell, France's new assembly stated the principles of a reformed nation, meant to introduce a future constitution. It was proclaimed in the presence of the Supreme Being.

Equality and rights. People are said to be born free and equal; the natural rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression, and sovereignty belongs to the nation. Social distinctions may rest only on public usefulness.

Law. Freedom means doing anything that does not harm others; law expresses the general will, applies equally and may forbid only harmful acts. All citizens may share in making it and are eligible for office by merit.

Justice. Arrest only by law, punishments strictly necessary and fixed beforehand, and the presumption of innocence protect the accused. No law may punish acts committed before it was passed.

Expression and government. Opinions, including religious ones, are protected within public order; speech and printing are free; taxes need consent; officials answer to the public; powers must be separated; property is sacred.

Afterlife. Paine reprinted it against Burke, the Terror soon violated it, yet it remains a landmark of modern rights. Its grounding of rights in nature and the nation invites comparison with Christian teaching that rights rest on creation by God.

Key figures

Marquis de Lafayette: Presented an early draft
Thomas Jefferson: American minister in Paris, consulted by Lafayette
Thomas Paine: English-born writer who printed this translation in 1791
Edmund Burke: British critic of the Revolution

Summary

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is the founding statement of the French Revolution. The National Assembly adopted it on 26 August 1789, a few weeks after the fall of the Bastille, as a preface to the constitution it intended to write. In a short preamble and seventeen articles, it sets out the principles on which the Assembly meant to rebuild France. The English translation used here was printed by Thomas Paine in Rights of Man (1791), his reply to Edmund Burke's attack on the Revolution. The preamble declares that ignorance, neglect or contempt of the rights of man are the sole causes of public misfortunes and the corruption of governments, and it proclaims these rights in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being. The first article states that men are born and remain free and equal in rights, and that social distinctions may be founded only on public utility. The second names the natural and imprescriptible rights of man as liberty, property, security and resistance of oppression. The third places sovereignty in the nation. The following articles define liberty as the power to do whatever does not injure another and declare that law may forbid only actions harmful to society. Law is the expression of the general will; all citizens may take part in making it, and all are equally eligible for public office according to their abilities. No one may be accused, arrested or held except as the law prescribes; punishments must be strictly necessary and set by law before the offence; and every person is presumed innocent until declared guilty. No one may be troubled for his opinions, even religious ones, provided their expression does not disturb public order; the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious rights. Taxes must be shared equally according to means and consented to by citizens or their representatives; public officials are accountable; and a society without a guarantee of rights and a separation of powers has no constitution. The last article calls property an inviolable and sacred right. The Declaration drew on the English and American traditions, Enlightenment philosophy and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Its promises were soon contradicted by the Terror of 1793–1794, but it remains a landmark in the history of rights. Christian readers may compare its grounding of rights in nature and the nation with grounding them in God's creation.

Plot or Argument

Preamble
Ignorance and contempt of rights are the causes of public misfortune; the Assembly declares them before the Supreme Being.
Articles 1–3
Freedom and equality in rights; the natural rights of liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression; sovereignty of the nation.
Articles 4–6
Liberty and its limits; law as the expression of the general will; equal eligibility for office.
Articles 7–9
Due process, necessary punishments, no retroactive laws, presumption of innocence.
Articles 10–11
Freedom of opinion, including religion, and of speech and the press.
Articles 12–17
Public force, taxation by consent, accountability of officials, separation of powers and property.

Lessons

Rights and their foundation
The Declaration speaks of natural rights declared before the Supreme Being. The question of where rights come from shapes how securely they are held.
- What rights does Article Two name?
- Where does the Declaration say rights come from?
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- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Summary
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- The Law, Lesson: Rights come before law
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Words and deeds
Within a few years the Revolution executed thousands without fair trial. Noble words protect no one unless rulers and citizens keep them.
- Which articles were violated during the Terror?
- Why do declarations of rights sometimes fail?
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Liberty and its limits
The Declaration defines liberty as freedom to do whatever does not harm others. Students can weigh this against older ideas of liberty as freedom to do what is good.
- How does Article Four define liberty?
- Is this a sufficient definition of freedom?
Related across the library
- Scots Wha Hae (Robert Bruce’s March to Bannockburn), Lesson: Liberty and law
  Liberty and law. The song fights for Scotland's king and law, not for lawlessness. Freedom here means a people's right to its own lawful rule.
- Opening Statement at the Nuremberg Trial, Lesson: Law instead of vengeance
  Law instead of vengeance. Jackson praised the Allies for choosing trial over revenge. Justice restrains even the anger of victims.
- O'Connor v. Donaldson, Lesson: Liberty and the harmless
  Liberty and the harmless. The Court's holding rests on a simple principle: liberty is the rule, and confinement requires a justification. Illness alone, the State's benevolent wish to care for someone, or the public's discomfort does not suffice when a person is dangerous to no one and can live safely in freedom.
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Lesson: Religious liberty
  Religious liberty. Article 18 protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to change one's religion. Many believers have suffered where this right is denied.
- Jacobson v. Massachusetts, Lesson: Liberty under law
  Liberty under law. Harlan answered Jacobson's claim to control his own body by describing liberty as something that exists only within a social order. Real liberty for all, he wrote, could not survive if each person might use his person or property regardless of injury to others. The argument places individual freedom and the common good in relation rather than simple opposition.

Context

By 1789 France was nearly bankrupt, and Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General for the first time since 1614. The Third Estate declared itself a National Assembly in June, and the Bastille fell on 14 July.

Composition

Several drafts were offered in July and August 1789, including Lafayette's. The Assembly debated and adopted the seventeen articles between 20 and 26 August 1789.

Reception

The Declaration was placed at the head of the Constitution of 1791. Burke condemned the principles of the Revolution, and Paine defended them, printing the Declaration in his reply. It has remained part of French constitutional law.

Justice Law Power / Politics Faith / Religion Class / Society

Comparisons

The Burke-Paine Debate on the French Revolution
Burke and Paine argued over the French Revolution and the meaning of the rights this Declaration proclaimed.
The Virginia Declaration of Rights
The Virginia Declaration of 1776 was a model for French drafters.
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Burke's Reflections attack the abstract rights of man as a foundation for government.
The Old Regime and the Revolution
Tocqueville explains how the old regime prepared the Revolution.

Quotes

“Men are born, and always continue, free and equal in respect of their Rights.”

— The National Constituent Assembly of France, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Article One, trans. Thomas Paine (1791).Quote card

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“No Man ought to be molested on account of his opinions, not even on account of his Religious opinions, provided his avowal of them does not disturb the Public Order established by the Law.”

— The National Constituent Assembly of France, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Article Ten, trans. Thomas Paine (1791).Quote card

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For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

How rights are grounded.
Definitions of liberty and law.
Procedural protections.
Contrasts with the American documents.

Key terms and names

Natural rights: Rights belonging to human beings by nature, not granted by government.
Sovereignty: Supreme political authority.
General will: In Rousseau's phrase, the collective will of the people aimed at the common good.
Imprescriptible: Unable to be lost or taken away by the passage of time.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension What four natural rights does Article Two name?
Comprehension What limit does Article Ten place on freedom of religious opinion?
Interpretation Why does the preamble blame public misfortunes on ignorance of rights?
Interpretation How does Article Six define law?
Interpretation Can rights be secure if they rest on the will of the nation rather than on God?
Interpretation Why did Burke distrust declarations of abstract rights?
Big Question What makes a declaration of rights effective?

Faith Connections

Genesis 1:27 (Scripture)
Human dignity grounded in the image of God, a different foundation from the Declaration's appeal to nature.
Galatians 5:13 (Scripture)
"Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another": a Christian account of freedom.
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (Great Conversation)
Burke's critique of the abstract rights of man.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: All people are born free and equal in rights; government exists to preserve natural rights, and law must be the same for all.

Rhetorical device: declarative enumeration. Each article states a principle as a self-evident truth.

Debate: Resolved: that rights are better protected by long tradition than by abstract declarations.

Memory Work

Men are born, and always continue, free and equal in respect of their Rights.
Article One, trans. Thomas Paine (1791). The Declaration's most famous sentence.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Compare the French Declaration with the American Bill of Rights and explain why their histories differed.

Comparison with The Burke-Paine Debate on the French Revolution: Use the Burke-Paine debate to evaluate the Declaration.

Creative Prompts

Essay
Compare the Declaration of the Rights of Man with the American Declaration of Independence on the source of rights.
Dialogue
Write a conversation between Burke and Paine about Article Three.
Classroom
Rewrite each of the seventeen articles in one plain sentence.