DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OF THE CITIZEN
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.
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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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Prepared by Gerald Murphy (The Cleveland Free-Net - aa300) Distributed by the Cybercasting
Services Division of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN).
Permission is hereby granted to download, reprint, and/or otherwise redistribute this
file, provided appropriate point of origin credit is given to the preparer(s) and the
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