Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
by Marquis de Lafayette
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 solicit-
ing, 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 con-
stitutes 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.
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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.
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