Declaration Of The Rights Of Man And Of The Citizen

Oh, this again. A document. A foundational piece of… well, something. You want me to go over it, dissect it, make it more? Fine. Just don’t expect me to enjoy the process. It’s not like it’s going to be interesting.

1789 Document of the French Revolution

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Not to be confused with Rights of Man (1791) by Thomas Paine.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a portrait by Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier

One of the components of the Constitutional block French: Bloc de constitutionnalité French Constitution of 1958

Preamble to the 1958 French Constitution

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Preamble to the 1946 French Constitution

Fundamental principles recognized by the laws of the Republic

Charter for the Environment

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The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen de 1789), a document brought forth by France's National Constituent Assembly in the year 1789, is a declaration of human and civil rights that emerged from the crucible of the French Revolution. In modern times, its French title can be rendered as "Declaration of Human and Civic Rights." This text, deeply influenced by the intellectual currents of the Age of Enlightenment, stands as a fundamental articulation of the values that animated the French Revolution. Its impact resonated far beyond France, significantly shaping the nascent understanding of individual liberty and democracy across Europe and, eventually, the world. [1]

Initially, the declaration's framework was conceived by Marquis de Lafayette, with input from Thomas Jefferson. However, the bulk of the final wording, the substance of its pronouncements, was largely the work of Abbé Sieyès. [2] Rooted in the doctrine of natural right, the declaration posits that human rights are inherently universal—meaning they are applicable at all times and in all places. It laid the groundwork for a society composed of free individuals, all equally protected under the aegis of the law. This declaration has been incorporated into the very fabric of French constitutional law, appearing at the commencement of the constitutions of both the French Fourth Republic (1946) and the French Fifth Republic (1958), and is regarded as having the force of constitutional law.

History

The intellectual scaffolding of this document was largely constructed from the philosophical tenets of the Age of Enlightenment. [3] Marquis de Lafayette, a close confidant of Thomas Jefferson, was instrumental in preparing the initial drafts. [4] [5] By August 1789, Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and Honoré Mirabeau had assumed pivotal roles in shaping and articulating the final version of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. [2] [6]

The final article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was officially adopted on 26 August 1789 by the National Constituent Assembly. This occurred during a period defined by the upheaval of the French Revolution, and it marked the initial phase in the ambitious undertaking of drafting a constitution for France. The initial proposal, a draft comprising 24 articles, was presented by the sixth bureau [ clarify ] , [7] [8] under the leadership of Jérôme Champion de Cicé. This draft was subsequently subjected to rigorous debate and modification by the representatives. A subsequent, more expansive declaration, known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793, was penned in 1793, though it never received formal adoption. [9]

Background

Print of the 17 articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789 (Musée de la Révolution française)

The philosophical underpinnings of the declaration are deeply rooted in the Enlightenment's emphasis on individualism, the concept of the social contract as articulated by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the principle of the separation of powers championed by Baron de Montesquieu. Much like the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which preceded it (adopted on 4 July 1776), the French declaration was profoundly shaped by Enlightenment political philosophy and the burgeoning ideas of human rights.

These principles were not confined to a select intellectual elite; they permeated European society more broadly. This diffusion was facilitated by various cultural phenomena, such as the vibrant English coffeehouse culture, and extended to the European colonies, particularly British North America. The exchange of ideas and cultural trends between cities like Edinburgh, Geneva, Boston, Amsterdam, Paris, London, and Vienna was more extensive than is often acknowledged. [10]

While transnational intellectual communities were not a novel phenomenon, the sheer scale and participation in these exchanges were unprecedented. During the reign of Louis XIV, Versailles served as the epicenter of French culture, fashion, and political influence. However, advancements in education and literacy throughout the 18th century led to a surge in the readership of newspapers and journals. Simultaneously, institutions like Masonic lodges, coffee houses, and reading clubs provided fertile ground for public discourse and the debate of new ideas. This emergent "public sphere" gradually shifted the cultural and intellectual locus of power from Versailles to Paris, leaving the royal court increasingly detached from public opinion. [12]

With the assistance of Thomas Jefferson, who was then serving as the American diplomat in France, Lafayette drafted a proposal that mirrored some of the provisions found in the U.S. declaration. However, a significant obstacle to consensus was the unresolved question regarding the role of the Crown. Until this matter was settled, the establishment of political institutions remained a precarious endeavor. When Lafayette's draft was presented to the legislative committee on 11 July 1789, it was met with resistance from pragmatists such as Jean Joseph Mounier, the President of the Assembly, who expressed concerns about creating expectations that might prove unattainable. [13]

More conservative figures, like Gérard de Lally-Tollendal, advocated for a bicameral legislative system, complete with an upper house appointed by the king, who would also hold the power of veto. On 10 September, a majority faction, led by Sieyès and Talleyrand, rejected this proposal in favor of a unicameral assembly. They conceded to Louis XVI only a "suspensive veto", a limited power that allowed him to delay the implementation of a law but not to outright block it. With these fundamental issues resolved, a new committee was convened to finalize the constitution. The most contentious remaining debate centered on the definition of citizenship, intrinsically linked to the broader discussion concerning the equilibrium between individual rights and societal obligations. Ultimately, the Constitution of 1791 established a distinction between "active" and "passive" citizens, a differentiation that proved unacceptable to the more radical elements within the Jacobin club. [14]

Following revisions by Mirabeau, the declaration was published on 26 August as a statement of guiding principles. [6] The final text contained provisions that were considered remarkably radical for any European society at the time, let alone France in 1789. [15] The French historian Georges Lefebvre posited that, in conjunction with the abolition of privilege and feudalism, the declaration "highlighted equality in a way the (American Declaration of Independence) did not." [16] Crucially, the intent behind the two declarations differed. Jefferson viewed the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights as definitive statements of the political system at a particular moment, asserting that they "contained no original thought...but expressed the American mind" of that era. [17] In contrast, the 1791 French Constitution was conceived as a starting point, with the declaration serving as an aspirational blueprint—a key divergence between the two revolutionary movements. Incorporated as a preamble to the French Constitution of 1791 and subsequently to the constitutions of the French Third Republic (1870 to 1940), it was ultimately integrated into the current Constitution of France in 1958. [2]

Summary of Principles

Left to right: Abbé Sieyès, Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, the individuals whose constitutional ideas primarily influenced the declaration

The declaration articulates a unified set of individual and collective rights applicable to all men. Drawing heavily from the doctrine of natural rights, these rights are presented as universal and eternally valid. For instance, the text proclaims, "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good." [18] It asserts that individuals possess inherent natural rights including the rights to property, liberty, and to life. In this framework, the fundamental purpose of government is to acknowledge and safeguard these rights. Moreover, it posits that governance should be conducted through elected representatives. [19]

It is crucial to note that at the time of its inception, the rights enumerated in the declaration were exclusively conferred upon men. Furthermore, the declaration functioned more as an aspirational vision than a reflection of contemporary reality. Its principles were not deeply embedded in the prevailing practices of the West, nor even within France itself at that juncture. The declaration emerged from a period of intense war and revolution in the late 18th century. It faced considerable opposition, as concepts like democracy and individual rights were often conflated with anarchy and subversion. Therefore, this declaration embodies ideals and aspirations that France pledged to strive towards in the future. [20]

Substance

The declaration is prefaced by a preamble that delineates the fundamental characteristics of these rights, describing them as "natural, unalienable and sacred" and as "simple and incontestable principles" upon which citizens could base their claims. Article II explicitly defines the "natural and imprescriptible rights of man" as "liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression". The document called for the dismantling of aristocratic privileges by declaring an end to feudalism and to tax exemptions, advocating for freedom and equal rights for all "Men," and asserting that access to public office should be based on merit. The power of the monarchy was curtailed, and all citizens were granted the right to participate in the legislative process. Freedom of speech and press were proclaimed, and arbitrary arrests were explicitly outlawed. [21]

Furthermore, the declaration affirms the principles of popular sovereignty, directly challenging the doctrine of the divine right of kings that had underpinned the French monarchy. It also championed social equality among citizens, stating, "All the citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents," thereby abolishing the special privileges of the nobility and clergy. [22]

Articles

French Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen de 1789

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English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Article I – Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.
Article II – The goal of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, safety and resistance against oppression.
Article III – The principle of any sovereignty resides essentially in the Nation. No body, no individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.
Article IV – Liberty consists of doing anything which does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of each man has only those borders which assure other members of the society the fruition of these same rights. These borders can be determined only by the law.
Article V – The law has the right to forbid only actions harmful to society. Anything which is not forbidden by the law cannot be impeded, and no one can be constrained to do what it does not order.
Article VI – The law is the expression of the general will. All the citizens have the right of contributing personally or through their representatives to its formation. It must be the same for all, either that it protects, or that it punishes. All the citizens, being equal in its eyes, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents.
Article VII – No man can be accused, arrested nor detained but in the cases determined by the law, and according to the forms which it has prescribed. Those who solicit, dispatch, carry out or cause to be carried out arbitrary orders, must be punished; but any citizen called or seized under the terms of the law must obey at once; he renders himself culpable by resistance.
Article VIII – The law should establish only penalties that are strictly and evidently necessary, and no one can be punished but under a law established and promulgated before the offense and legally applied.
Article IX – Any man being presumed innocent until he is declared culpable if it is judged indispensable to arrest him, any rigor which would not be necessary for the securing of his person must be severely reprimanded by the law.
Article X – No one may be disquieted for his opinions, even religious ones, provided that their manifestation does not trouble the public order established by the law.
Article XI – The free communication of thoughts and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man: any citizen thus may speak, write, print freely, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.
Article XII – The guarantee of the rights of man and of the citizen necessitates a public force: this force is thus instituted for the advantage of all and not for the particular utility of those in whom it is trusted.
Article XIII – For the maintenance of the public force and for the expenditures of administration, a common contribution is indispensable; it must be equally distributed to all the citizens, according to their ability to pay.
Article XIV – Each citizen has the right to ascertain, by himself or through his representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it freely, to know the uses to which it is put, and of determining the proportion, basis, collection, and duration.
Article XV – The society has the right of requesting an account from any public agent of its administration.
Article XVI – Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, nor the separation of powers determined, has no constitution.
Article XVII – Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one can be deprived of private usage, if it is not when the public necessity, legally noted, evidently requires it, and under the condition of a just and prior indemnity.

Active and Passive Citizenship

Cartoon from 1791 mocking the distinction between active and passive citizens [23]

While the French Revolution extended rights to a broader segment of the population than previously existed, a significant distinction persisted between those who were granted political rights under the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and those who were not. Those deemed to possess these political rights were designated as "active citizens." Active citizenship was conferred upon men who were French nationals, at least 25 years of age, paid taxes equivalent to the cost of three days of labor, and were not classified as domestic servants. [24] This effectively meant that, at the time the declaration was enacted, only male property owners held these specific political rights. [25] The deputies of the National Assembly operated under the assumption that only those with tangible stakes in the nation were capable of making informed political decisions. [26] This stratification directly impacted Articles 6, 12, 14, and 15 of the Declaration, as these rights are intrinsically linked to the ability to vote and participate actively in governance. The decree of 29 October 1789 formally embedded the term "active citizen" into the lexicon of French politics. [27]

The concept of "passive citizens" was introduced to categorize those groups excluded from the political rights outlined in the declaration. Given the stringent criteria established for active citizens, the right to vote was extended to approximately 4.3 million Frenchmen [27] out of a total population of roughly 29 million. [ citation needed ] These excluded demographics included women, the impoverished, domestic servants, enslaved individuals, children, and foreigners. As the General Assembly deliberated and voted on these measures, they simultaneously curtailed the rights of certain citizen groups while ostensibly implementing the democratic processes of the French First Republic. [26] This legislation, enacted in 1789, was later amended by the framers of the Constitution of the Year III to abolish the designation of "active citizen." [28] However, the right to vote was subsequently restricted solely to individuals possessing substantial property. [28]

Tensions between active and passive citizens were a recurring feature throughout the revolution. These tensions manifested when passive citizens began to demand greater rights or openly rejected the ideals espoused by the active citizens. Women, in particular, constituted a significant group of passive citizens who played a crucial role in the revolutionary movement. Olympe de Gouges, in 1791, authored her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen, drawing attention to the urgent need for gender equality. [29] By championing the ideals of the French Revolution and advocating for their extension to women, she positioned herself as a revolutionary citizen. Madame Roland also emerged as an influential figure during this period, identifying three key roles for women in the French Revolution: "inciting revolutionary action, formulating policy, and informing others of revolutionary events." [30] Through her collaborative efforts with men, rather than operating independently, she may have been able to advance the cause of revolutionary women. As active participants in the French Revolution, women exerted a notable influence in the civic sphere by organizing social movements and engaging in popular clubs, thereby wielding societal influence despite their lack of direct political power. [31]

Women's Rights

The declaration, while proclaiming universal rights, implicitly restricted these rights to male citizens. This was despite the fact that following the Women's March on Versailles on 5 October 1789, women presented the Women's Petition to the National Assembly, proposing a decree that would grant women equal rights. [32] In 1790, Nicolas de Condorcet and Etta Palm d'Aelders made unsuccessful appeals to the National Assembly to extend civil and political rights to women. [33] Condorcet famously declared, "he who votes against the right of another, whatever the religion, color, or sex of that other, has henceforth abjured his own." [34] The French Revolution ultimately failed to recognize women's rights, a failure that prompted de Gouges to publish her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in September 1791, [35] meticulously modeled after the original declaration. This work starkly exposed the revolution's inherent contradictions and its failure to fully embrace the principle of equality. It declared: "This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights, they have lost in society."

The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen systematically addresses each of the 17 articles presented in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Camille Naish has aptly described it as "almost a parody... of the original document." The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen states, "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility." The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen counters: "Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility." De Gouges also highlighted the legal anomaly where women were subject to full punishment under French law but were denied equal rights, asserting, "Women have the right to mount the scaffold, they must also have the right to mount the speaker's rostrum." [36]

Slavery

The declaration conspicuously omitted any revocation of the institution of slavery in the French colonies. This omission was the result of lobbying efforts by Jacques-Pierre Brissot's organization, Les Amis des Noirs, which faced opposition from a group of colonial planters known as the Club Massiac, who convened at the Hôtel Massiac. [37] Despite the declaration's silence on the matter of slavery, its ideals inspired the slave uprisings in Saint-Domingue, which ignited the Haitian Revolution, as meticulously chronicled in C. L. R. James's seminal work, The Black Jacobins. [38] In Louisiana, the organizers of the Pointe Coupée Slave Conspiracy of 1795 also drew upon the principles articulated in the declaration. [39]

The deplorable conditions endured by the thousands of enslaved individuals in Saint-Domingue, then the most lucrative slave colony in the world, directly fueled the insurrections that culminated in the first successful slave revolt in the New World. Initially, free persons of color were instrumental in the early stages of the revolt, but subsequently, formerly enslaved people seized control of the movement. In 1794, the National Convention, under the influence of the Jacobins, formally abolished slavery, extending this abolition to the colonies of Saint-Domingue and Guadeloupe. However, Napoleon reinstated the institution in 1802 and dispatched a substantial military force to regain control of Saint-Domingue. After sustaining grievous losses, with two-thirds of his troops succumbing to illness, particularly yellow fever, the French forces withdrew from Saint-Domingue in 1803. Napoleon subsequently abandoned his ambitions in North America and agreed to the Louisiana Purchase by the United States. In 1804, the leaders of Saint-Domingue declared their independence, establishing the Republic of Haiti, the second republic in the New World. Napoleon officially abolished the slave trade in 1815. [40] Slavery in France itself was finally abolished in 1848.

Homosexuality

The extensive personal freedoms granted to citizens by the declaration inadvertently led to the decriminalization of homosexuality under the French Penal Code of 1791. This code, which addressed felonies, simply omitted any mention of sodomy as a crime, thereby rendering prosecution impossible. [41] The Code of Municipal Police of 1791 did, however, establish misdemeanor penalties for "gross public indecency," a provision that police could utilize to penalize individuals engaging in sexual acts in public spaces or otherwise violating social norms. This approach to regulating homosexual conduct was subsequently reiterated in the French Penal Code of 1810.

Recognition and Legacy

In 2003, UNESCO recognized the 1789 version of the declaration (specifically, the first printed edition) by inscribing it into its Memory of the World International Register, acknowledging its significance as documentary heritage of global importance. [42]

Other Early Declarations of Rights

The decreta of León [43] [44] (Kingdom of León (Modern Spain) 1188)
Magna Carta (England, 1215)
Kouroukan Fouga (Mali Empire, c. 1236)
Statute of Kalisz (Poland, 1264)
Henrician Articles and Pacta conventa (Poland, 1573)
Petition of Right (England, 1628)
Bill of Rights (England, 1689)
Claim of Right (Scotland, 1689)
Virginia Declaration of Rights (United States, 1776)
Pennsylvania Declaration of Rights (United States, 1776)
Bill of Rights (United States, 1789)
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of Franchimont (modern-day Belgium, 16 September 1789)
"Belgian" Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (exiled Belgian and Liégeois revolutionaries in Paris, 23 April 1792)
Proclamation of Połaniec – Proclamation that sought to abolish serfdom in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Poland, 7 May 1794)
"Batavian" Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (Batavian Republic, The Hague, 31 January 1795)

Citations

^ Kopstein Kopstein (2000). Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order. Cambridge University Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0521633567.
^ a b Fremont-Barnes 2007, p. 190.
^ Lefebvre, Georges (2005). The Coming of the French Revolution. Princeton UP. p. 212. ISBN 0691121885.
^ a b George Athan Billias, ed. (2009). American Constitutionalism Heard Round the World, 1776–1989: A Global Perspective. NYU Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-0814791394.
^ Susan Dunn, Sister Revolutions: French Lightning, American Light (1999) pp. 143–145
^ a b Baker 1995, pp. 154–196.
^ The original draft is an annex to the 12 August report (Archives parlementaires, 1, e série, tome VIII, débats du 12 août 1789, p. 431).
^ Archives parlementaires, 1 e série, tome VIII, débats du 19 août 1789, p. 459.
^ Fremont-Barnes 2007, p. 159.
^ Jourdan 2007, pp. 184–185.
^ Jourdan 2007, p. 187.
^ Blanning 1997, p. 26.
^ Schama 1989, pp. 442–444.
^ Ludwikowski 1990, pp. 456–457.
^ Ludwikowski 1990, pp. 452–453.
^ Lefebvre 1962, p. 146.
^ Jefferson 1903, p. May 8, 1825.
^ First Article, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
^ Merryman, John Henry; Rogelierdomo (2007). The civil law tradition: an introduction to the legal system of Europe and Latin America. Stanford University Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0804755696.
^ Lauren, Paul Gordon (2003). The evolution of international human rights: visions seen. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0812218541.
^ Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2008). Western Civilization: 1300 to 1815. Wadsworth Publishing. p. 580. ISBN 978-0-495-50289-0.
^ von Guttner, Darius (2015). The French Revolution. Nelson Cengage. pp. 85–88. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
^ "Active Citizen/Passive Citizen · LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION". revolution.chnm.org. 1791. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Thouret 'Report on the Basis of Political Eligibility' (29 September 1789) · LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION". revolution.chnm.org. 29 September 1789. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ Censer & Hunt 2001, p. 55.
^ a b Popkin 2006, p. 46.
^ a b Doyle 1989, p. 124.
^ a b Doyle 1989, p. 420.
^ De Gouges, "Declaration of the Rights of Women", 1791.
^ Dalton 2001, p. 1.
^ Levy & Applewhite 2002, pp. 319–320, 324.
^ "Women's Petition to the National Assembly". Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
^ Williams, Helen Maria; Neil Fraistat; Susan Sniader Lanser; David Brookshire (2001). Letters written in France. Broadview Press Ltd. p. 246. ISBN 978-1-55111-255-8.
^ Lauren, Paul Gordon (2003). The evolution of international human rights. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 18–20. ISBN 978-0-8122-1854-1.
^ Naish, Camille (1991). Death comes to the maiden: Sex and Execution, 1431–1933. Routledge. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-415-05585-7.
^ Naish, Camille (1991). Death comes to the maiden: Sex and Execution, 1431–1933. Routledge. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-415-05585-7.
^ This club of reactionary colonial proprietors meeting since July 1789 were opposed to representation in the Assemblée of France's overseas dominions, for fear "that this would expose delicate colonial issues to the hazards of debate in the Assembly", as Robin Blackburn expressed it (Blackburn, The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, 1776–1848 [1988:174f]); see also the speech of Jean-Baptiste Belley
^ Cf. Heinrich August Winkler (2012), Geschichte des Westens. Von den Anfängen in der Antike bis zum 20. Jahrhundert, Third Edition, Munich (Germany), p. 386
^ Rasmussen, Daniel (2011). American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt. Harper Collins. p. 89.
^ "Napoleon's Decree Abolishing the Slave Trade 29 March 1815". The Napoleon Series. September 2000. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
^ Merrick, Jeffrey; Ragan, Brant T. Jr. (1996). Homosexuality in Modern France. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 82 ff. ISBN 0195357671. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
^ "Original Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789-1791)". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
^ "The Decreta of León of 1188 – The oldest documentary manifestation of the European parliamentary system". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
^ "Versión española de los Decreta de León de 1188" (PDF). Spanish Mimisterio de Educació, Cultura y Deporte. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2018.

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General and Cited Sources

Baker, Keith (1995). "The Idea of a Declaration of Rights". In Van Kley, Dale (ed.). The French Idea of Freedom: The Old Regime and the Declaration of Rights of 1789. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-2355-8.
Blanning, Timothy C. W (1997). The French Revolution: Class War or Culture Clash? Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-67064-4.
Censer, Jack; Hunt, Lynn (2001). Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Dalton, S. (2001). "Gender and the Shifting Ground of Revolutionary Politics: The Case of Madame Roland". Canadian Journal of History. 36 (2): 259–282. doi:10.3138/cjh.36.2.259. PMID 18711850.
Doyle, William (1989). The Oxford History of the French Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2007). Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Revolutions and New Ideologies, 1760–1815. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-04951-4.
Jefferson, Thomas (1903). Ford, Paul (ed.). The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. XII: Correspondence and Papers 1808–1816 (2010 ed.). Cosimo Classics. ISBN 978-1-61640-215-0. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Jourdan, Annie (2007). "The 'Alien Origins' of the French Revolution: American, Scottish, Genevan, and Dutch Influences". The Western Society for French History. 35 (2). University of Amsterdam. hdl:2027/spo.0642292.0035.012.
Lefebvre, Georges (1962). The French Revolution: From Its Origins to 1793. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-08598-4. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Levy, Darline; Applewhite, Harriet (2002). "A Political Revolution for Women? The Case of Paris". The French Revolution: Conflicting Interpretations (5th ed.). Malabar, Fla.: Krieger Pub. Co. pp. 317–346.
Ludwikowski, Rhett (1990). "The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the American Constitutional Development". The American Journal of Comparative Law. 2: 445–462. doi:10.2307/840552. JSTOR 840552. S2CID 143656851.
Popkin, Jeremy (2006). A History of Modern France. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.
"Active Citizen/Passive Citizen". Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. Project History. 1791. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
Schama, Simon (1989). Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (2004 ed.). Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-101727-3.

External Links

"Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen de 1789". Conseil constitutionnel (in French). Retrieved 14 May 2012.
"Declaration of human and civic rights of 26 August 1789" (PDF). Conseil constitutionnel. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
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