The Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen were both written to ensure the rights of the people. Before these documents were written, people were opposed to certain aspects of their government. For example, the British were too controlling of American citizens and were also unrightfully taxing American goods. This made the American colonists very unhappy. The anger of these people led to many protests and revolts against the British. Sooner or later, the founding fathers decided to send a declaration to the King of Britain, King George III, declaring their freedom and independence. This document is what led to the American Revolutionary War/American Revolution. In France, the people were treated very …show more content…
Lafayette took several of Jefferson’s suggestions during the making of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Because they collaborated during the making of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, both of the documents are close in similarities. The two declarations both set out to accomplish two very different goals, but they both overlap with some of the same ideas and concepts. Both documents were based around Enlightenment ideas. America and France alike shared ideas from John Locke. John Locke stated that people have the natural right to life, liberty, and property. If the government doesn’t give the people these things, the people have the right to rebel. Both of these documents outline the conditions that must be met by the leaders of the nations and both of the documents specify exactly what the people want. Last but definitely not least, both of these documents secured liberty for their …show more content…
America’s declaration was to state their independence from Britain whereas France’s declaration was to completely change their government. For example, France no longer wanted a monarchy, plus they wanted to fix the large social gap between the First and Third Estate. America wanted their independence from Britain mainly because of taxation without representation. In the Declaration of Independence, facts are stated about the British King’s tyranny. The document says, “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object of establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these states. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.” The document then lists twenty-seven facts proving this statement to be true. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen does not list facts such as the American document does. It lists the actual rights and laws of man and citizen, like the title suggests. There are seventeen rights listed in the French document. Another difference between the two declarations is how the document was approved. The Declaration of Independence was signed at the end by fifty-six men. This is how most petitions are signed in today’s world- by gaining signatures. The French Declaration, however, was not signed. The Declaration of the
The bill of right and the declaration of independence have so many things that are similar but also some that are different, the declaration was the cause, mostly him complaining for the people and himself, it was more a letter to the king. the bill of rights is the effect, it was after everything happen that we got the bill of right for us to be able to be free to express ourselves however we want either by laws, trades, or even taxes or how we even talk, if we didn’t have this important documents in life the world would still be a mess and maybe there would even be slavery and cruelty against one another but because we have rules and we have amendments we are organize and we are able to sleep in a bed freely and without worrying about protection or anything. It took years for everyone to get where we are so we have to take advantage.
It is not surprising that Rousseau's philosophies lead to the beginnings of both the American and French revolution. Jefferson and the other members of the Continental Congress have become capable of molding these thoughts into a document that will act as a philosophical outline for the founding of the United States. The Declaration of Independence allows the founding fathers an opportunity to build on some of the Puritan ethics of the founding new country of America and to justify their independence and establish a republic based on democracy and personal freedom from government
Both the “U.S. Declaration of Independence” and the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen” were both revolutionary documents that all had a central theme, human rights; both of these documents demanded the same natural rights for each citizen. Freedom of speech or expression of ideas, freedom of religion, and fair and equal tax to name a few. These were all rights that were denied the colonial American and French people until the forging of these powerful documents.
One of the primary sources that demonstrates the global influences of the Atlantic revolutionary movements and Enlightenment views on human rights is the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. This primary source was written by the French National Assembly including Marquis de Lafayette during the French Revolution. Thomas Jefferson served as an ambassador to France and also helped write the majority of the American Declaration of Independence. Because of Jefferson, the French and American declarations were quite similar. During all of the Atlantic revolutions, areas were trying to implement basic human rights for all equal men. The French declaration states that public misfortune and government corruption is caused by ignorance and neglect. With that
Since the constitution was likely to have taken a long time to compose and ratify, and France had no Magna Carta or Declaration of Independence to work from, it makes sense for Lafayette to have wanted to establish a list of rights to support the new French state during this interim period. Consequently, the Declaration was never meant to be the zenith of liberty and equality; that was what the constitution would be for. However, Lafayette had an agenda, and he included in his draft his own ideals for what France should be. He included provisions for universal suffrage (‘free representation of citizens’), gender equality, the abolition of slavery, and ‘the correction of the entire human establishment’. With this last phrase especially, it is essential to remember that Lafayette was writing a percussor to the constitution, the latter of which he hoped would fundamentally transform France into a free and equal society. If Mirabeau and Sieyès had not removed these clauses, it is possible that the French Revolution would have taken a different trajectory. However, it did not, and the final Declaration that was issued on the 26th August was a conservative retreat that did comparatively little to improve the lives of the vast majority of French people. Consequently, these significant limitations of the Declaration mean that whilst it had a huge impact on the theoretical rights of French people, it was nowhere near
July 4th, 1776. America issues the DickDeclaration of Independence, declaring its freedom from England Britain. Our founding fathers, like Thomas Jefferson, state in The Declaration of Independence it that people have “certain, unalienable rights” and that they have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. August 26th, 1789. The National Assembly of France create the Declaration of the Rights of Man, state that they have the right to “natural, unalienable and sacred rights of man” and continue to list grievances that they have. Both of these revolutions were based off of similar morals: that man has the right to freedom. Although the French and American Revolutions were both caused due to unfair taxation and lack of say in
The Declaration of Independence, which talked about Independence sparked the French Revolution. From the Declaration of Independence, French citizens realized how much better they could be treated and thus wanted to follow the American’s example of how their citizens were being treated. A quote from Albert Mathiez is, ‘The Revolution had been accomplished in the minds of men long before it was translated into fact…’ (Document 7). Another quote that goes with this subject from Lord Acton is, ‘…the spark that changed thought into action was supplied by the Declaration of Independence…The American example caused the Revolution to break out…” (Document 7). Those two quotes show how the French wanted to gain more independence and to have more rights. The Declaration of Independence helped them to do that. Also, it is shown from another quote from document 7, that since the lower class had a very low literacy rate, the upper classes helped them gain more independence and rights. The quote from Document 7 is, ‘The Revolution came from them-the middle class. The working classes were incapable of starting or controlling the Revolution. They were just beginning to learn to read’ (Document
However, it decided that before doing so, it should publish a statement of broad political principles. Based on the natural rights of man, these principles would act as guidelines for the new constitutional government. On August 27, the Assembly issued the DEclaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen. This declaration drew on the political language of the Enlightenment, exhibiting the democratic ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau as well as the liberal views of Thomas Jefferson, who help create America’s Declaration of Independence (doc. 5).The French declaration proclaimed that all men were “born and remain free and equal in rights.” The natural rights were declared as “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” Governments ultimately existed to protect those rights. Jefferson, whose thoughts corresponded with the classic liberalism of the Enlightenment, believed that government could only step in if harm is being done to another. On the other hand, principles of the Enlightenment thinker Rousseau, which can almost be described as proto-socialist, are also evident in this document. “The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation…” This quote from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens draws from
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was the product of an oppressed people who were tired of living under a government in which they had no voice. During the Ancién Regime in France, there social classes, called estates, greatly divided the people on the basis of power and wealth. The first estate being the clergy, the second nobility, and the third estate being everyone else in the country of France (“The French Revolution” 23:20). The first two estates made up 3% of the population, while the third estate made up 97%, yet the first two estates held all the power. The French government at the time was an absolute monarchy, meaning the king derived his power from god and could exercise it without other constituted bodies having a right to challenge him (Introduction: Louis XIV and French Absolutism p.205). However, France was in such a state of crises in the late 18th century that Louis XVI called together the estates general, an assembly where all three estates were represented, for the first time in one hundred years (“The French Revolution” 23:00). Robes Pierre, a representative of the third estate, insisted that the nobles and clergy begin to pay taxes, but since the first and second estate held two thirds of the vote, he was quickly dismissed. After six weeks of meeting without achieving anything for the state, the third estate representatives become silenced by the first two estates. Enraged, they move next door to a tennis court and make “The Tennis Court
From document 4 it is clear, that the common man who was suffering for many years and was looking at the changes that are taking place around him and started thinking about the natural rights. The working class started to read and with the ideas of new philosophies and the declaration of American Independence ignited the spark in the middle class which decided to revolt against the French government according to the document 5. It was the idea of the American Revolution which had a major impact on the third estate which caused the French revolution. The American and French revolution changed the governments of the world which created many forms of
The Declaration of Independence, as the masterpiece which lied the foundation of freedom and independence of United States of America, declaring for the thirteen American colonists who are suffering from the ruffian British rule. This document was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, since then, that day has become a memorial date commemorating the milestone in the American history of liberty and justice. However, liberty and freedom was not an exclusive patent of the United States, same ideal was inspired few decades after in center of European. In the year of 1789, the Revolutionary War broke out in France. Political organizations representing the liberalism
These rights include giving citizens the right to petition the king without fear of any repercussions, granting everyone free speech, giving Protestants the right to bear arms for defense, and allowing Parliament to uphold, suspend, or execute laws as they please. Fast forward 87 years, and the American Declaration of Independence is being drafted. The authors of this new declaration chose to include some rights that were also in the English Declaration of Rights such as the right of the people to alter their government. Similar to the English Declaration of Rights, the Declaration of Independence includes a list of grievances that the authors believe should be rights of the
When the situation in France was not getting any better the French people did the what anyone else would which was to start a revolution. The American's had already done it so the French knew they could do it. The American Revolution held from 1765 through 1783. From this revolution the Declaration of Independence rose, as the American colonist wanted freedom they obtained it by revolving against the British. When the government and economy wasn't doing very well in France the french decided to revolve against their government. From 1789 to 1790 we see the events of the French Revolution. The Declaration of Rights of Man came from this revolution. Through these two revolution we have gotten two important pieces
This paper is here to teach you about the French and American revolution. We will compare the things building up to both of these happenings and the results of each as well. We will also look thoroughly at each documents statements to try to break down what each people were looking for and some of the cause was to why they wanted the things that they did. Now, these writings were made during the Enlightenment Idea, which fell between the 17th and 18th century, but this concept was basically an awakening of people all across the globe realizing that maybe they didn’t need a singular ruler or monarch, but that people could be self-governed. Both of the documents we are about to study, the Declaration of the Rights of Man (French) and the Declaration
Freedom and justice are what England’s Bill of Rights, France’s Declaration of Rights for Men, and America’s Bill of Right all have in common. All three countries did not like the rules or leaders at the time thus, revolutions against them occurred. Then, these documents were created because people wanted change. The first of the three is England’s Bill of Rights which inspired America’s Declaration of Independence, which lead to France’s Declaration of Right for Men. Furthermore, I will explain the contents of each document, how all three documents relate to one another, and which of these I would prefer to live under.