In its preamble and its 17 articles, it sets out the “natural and inalienable” rights, which are freedom, ownership, security, resistance to oppression; it recognizes equality before the law and the justice system, and affirms the principle of separation of powers. While the text was subsequently flouted by many revolutionaries, and followed by two other declarations of the rights of man in 1793 and 1795, the text of 26 August 1789 was the one to survive, and inspired similar texts in several European and Latin American countries throughout the 19th century; it is on this one that the French constitutions of 1852, 1946 and 1958 were founded. The Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man, signed in Paris on 10 December 1948, just like the European Convention on Human Rights, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, have the same origins.
Collection: Texts
Project: 10. Churches and religions in Europe.
Chronology: 18th century
Scope: Secondary Education, Higher Education
Link: https://www.elysee.fr/en/french-presidency/the-declaration-of-the-rights-of-man-and-of-the-citizen
Resource type: Website
Format: Texts
Source: Elysée
Language: English, French and German
Date: 1789
Owner: Filippo Galletti (Modernalia)
Copyright: Elisée
Abstract: Inspired by the American Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the spirit of the Enlightenment, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 marked the beginning of a new political era. Since then, it has never ceased to be a reference text.
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