1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
by the Marquis de Lafayette assisted by Thomas Jefferson
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.
Note: The above document was written by The Marquis de
Lafayette, with help from his friend and neighbor, American
envoy to France, Thomas Jefferson. Lafayette, you may recall,
had come to the Colonies at age 19, been commissioned a Major
General, and was instrumental in the defeat of the British
during the American Revolutionary War. He considered one special
man his 'father': George Washington.
French King Louis XVI signed this document, under duress, but
never intended to support it. Indeed, the Revolution in France
soon followed, leading to the tyrannical rule of Napolean
Bonaparte.
