DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND THE CITIZEN (1789)

With the precedents of the English and American revolutions, the French embarked on their own. However, unlike the Americans or the English, the French did not have a tradition of strong representative government. The Estates-General was the closest thing they had to a representative body. The Estates-General was made up of the three traditional groups, or "estates," of French society. These were the clergy (the First Estate), the nobility (the Second Estate), and the commoners (the Third Estate). This body nominally represented the subjects of the French nation on issues of taxation, and other things.

Unfortunately, the Estates-General had not met since 1614. Remember that the period between 1614 and 1789, when it did meet again, was the period of monarchical absolutism in France. The Monarchs had had little need to call on their subjects to approve anything. Therefore, the tradition of representation in France was very weak before the French Revolution. Moreover, it had become very clear that the Estates-General did not adequately speak for the majority of Frenchmen. Each estate had had one vote on any issue, that is, when the Estates-General voted as a whole, there were only three votes cast: one for each estate. Since the interests of the top two estates tended to be very similar (i.e. to preserve their privileges), they typically out-voted the Third Estate. By 1789 this was unacceptable to the majority of Frenchmen -- especially with Enlightenment thoughts of equality and social contracts flying around!

Once the French Revolution began, one of the first problems addressed focused on the basic rights that people should possess. These were embodied in this document.

--. How does the declaration limit the power of government?
-- What rights do citizens possess? What responsibilities?
-- What is the origin and purpose of law according to this document?
-- How does this compare to the English Bill of Rights and the American Declaration of Independence?

The representatives of the people of France, empowered to act as a national assembly, taking into consideration that ignorance, oblivion, or scorn of the rights of man are the only cause of public misery and the corruption of government, have resolved to state in a solemn declaration the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man, so that this declaration, continually offered to all the members of society, may forever recall them to their rights and duties; so that the actions of the legislative and executive power, able to be compared at every instant to the goal of any political institution, may be more respected; so that the demands of the citizens, from now on based on straightforward and incontestable principles, will revolve around the maintenance of the constitution and the happiness of everyone.

Consequently, the National Assembly recognizes and declares, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and citizen:

Article 1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights; social distinctions can be established only for the common benefit.

Article 2. The goal of every political association is the conservation of the natural and indefeasible rights of man; these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

Article 3. The source of all sovereignty is located essentially in the nation; no body, no individual can exercise authority which does not emanate from it expressly.

Article 4. Liberty consists in being able to do anything that does not harm another. Thus the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to other members of society the enjoyment of these same rights; these limits can be determined only by law.

Article 5. The law has the right to prohibit only those actions harmful to society. All that is not prohibited by the law cannot be hindered, and no one can by forced to do what it does not order.

Article 6. The law is the expression of the general will; all citizens have the right to concur personally or through their representatives in its formation; it must be the same for everyone, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in its eyes, are equally admissible to all honors, offices, and public employments, according to their abilities and without any distinction other than those of their virtues and talents.

Article 7. No man can be accused, arrested, or detained except in instances determined by the law, and according to the practices which it has prescribed. Those who solicit, draw up, carry out, or have carried out arbitrary orders must be punished; but any citizen summoned or seized by virtue of the law must obey instantly; he renders himself guilty by resisting.

Article 8. The law must establish only penalties that are strictly and plainly necessary, and no one can be punished except in virtue of a law established and published prior to the offense and legally applied.

Article 9. Every man being presumed innocent until he has been declared guilty, if it is judged indispensable to arrest him, all harshness that is not necessary for making secure his person must be severely limited by the law.

Article 10. No one may be disturbed because of his opinions, even religious, provided that their public manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law.

Article 11. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious rights of man: every citizen can therefore freely speak; write, and print, except he is answerable for abuses of this liberty in instances determined by the law.

Article 12. The guaranteeing of the rights of man and citizen requires a public force; this force is therefore instituted for the advantage of everyone, and not for the private use of those to whom it is entrusted.

Article 13. For the maintenance of the public force, and for the expenses of administration, a tax supported in common is indispensable; it must be apportioned among all citizens on grounds of their capacities to pay.

Article 14. All citizens have the right to determine for themselves or through their representatives the need for taxation of the public, to consent to it freely, to investigate its use, and to determine its rate, basis, collection, and duration.

Article 15. Society has the right to demand an accountability from every public agent of his management.

Article 16. Any society in which guarantees of rights are not assured nor the separation of powers determined has no constitution.

Article 17. Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one may be deprived of it except when public necessity, legally determined, requires it, and on condition of a just and predetermined compensation.

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