Declaration des droits de l'homme AE-II-3701 original

The Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen of 1793 (French: ''Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen de 1793'') is a French political document that preceded that country's first republican constitution. The Declaration and Constitution were ratified by popular vote in July 1793, and officially adopted on 10 August; however, they never went into effect, and the constitution was officially suspended on 10 October. It is unclear whether this suspension was thought to affect the Declaration as well. The Declaration was written by the commission that included Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just and

Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles (, 20 September 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French judge, freemason and politician who took part in the French Revolution. Origins and early career Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles was born in Paris int ...

during the period of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. The main distinction between the Declaration of 1793 and the

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolu ...

of 1789 is its

egalitarian Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...

tendency: equality is the prevailing right in this declaration. The 1793 version included new rights, and revisions to prior ones: to work, to public assistance, to education, and to resist oppression. The text was mainly written by Hérault de Séchelles, whose style and writing can be found on most of the documents of the commission that also wrote the

French Constitution of 1793 The Constitution of 1793 (french: Acte constitutionnel du 24 juin 1793), also known as the Constitution of the Year I or the Montagnard Constitution, was the second constitution ratified for use during the French Revolution under the First Repu ...

("Constitution of the Year I") that was never implemented. The first project of the Constitution of the

French Fourth Republic The French Fourth Republic (french: Quatrième république française) was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Re ...

also referred to the 1793 version of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The 1793 document was written by Jacobins after they had expelled the

Girondist The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...

s. It was a compromise designed as a propaganda weapon and did not fully reflect the radicalism of the Jacobin leaders. It was never put in force.Louis R. Gottschalk, ''The Era of the French Revolution'' (1929) pp. 236–38

Equality as the first natural right of man

Equality is the most important aspect of the Declaration of 1793. In its second article, equality is the first right mentioned (followed by liberty, security, and property). In Article ''3'' states "All men are equal by nature and

before the law "Before the Law" (German: "Vor dem Gesetz") is a parable contained in the novel ''The Trial'' (german: Der Prozess), by Franz Kafka. "Before the Law" was published twice in Kafka's lifetime, first in the 1915 New Year's edition of the independent J ...

". As such, for the authors of this declaration equality is not only before the law but it is also a

natural right Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', '' fundamental'' an ...

, that is to say, a fact of nature. There was already at that time a school of thought that stated that liberty and equality can quickly become contradictory: indeed liberty doesn't solve social inequalities since there exist some natural inequalities (of talent, intelligence, etc.). That school of thought considered that the government had only to protect liberty and to only proclaim natural equality, and eventually liberty would prevail over social equality since all people have different talents and abilities and are free to exercise them. The question raised by this declaration is how to solve social inequalities. ''Article 21'' states that every citizen has a right to public help, that society is indebted to each citizen and therefore has the duty to help them. Citizens have there a

right to work The right to work is the concept that people have a human right to work, or engage in productive employment, and should not be prevented from doing so. The right to work is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized ...

and society has a duty to provide relief to those who cannot work. ''Article 22'' declares a

right to education The right to education has been recognized as a human right in a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognizes a right to free, compulsory primary education for ...

. These rights are considered " 2nd generation rights of Man", economic and social rights (the first ones would be natural or political). These rights entail a greater government intervention in order to reach society's goal, stated in ''article 1'': common welfare.

The protections of Liberty

Individual liberty is still a primary right and some aspects are more precisely defined than in Declaration of 1789. The declaration explicitly states the

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

, of assembly, and of the press (article 7), of commerce (article 17), of

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...

(article 32).

Slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

is prohibited by article 18 which states "Every man can contract his services and his time, but he cannot sell himself nor be sold: his person is not an alienable property."

The protections of the citizens against their own government

If in a way, this declaration has a more liberal bent in the modern American sense, since it states that there ought to be public policies for the general welfare, it also contains some very strong libertarian aspects. Article 7 states "The necessity of enunciating these rights supposes either the presence or the fresh recollection of despotism." Article 9: "The law ought to protect public and personal liberty against the oppression of those who govern." Article 33 states that resisting tyranny is a logical consequence of the rights of man: "Resistance to oppression is the consequence of the other rights of man". Article 34 states that if one is oppressed, everyone is. Article 27 states "Let any person who may usurp the sovereignty be instantly put to death by free men." Though the usurpation of sovereignty is not detailed, sovereignty is explained in article 25 as residing "in the people". There is no doubt that this way of thinking deeply influenced the revolutionary government during the Terror. Finally, article 35 states "When the government violates the rights of the people,

insurrection Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

is for the people and for each portion of the people the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties." Though this declaration was never enforced (like the Constitution of 1793), history has shown that the French people have followed this advice with many successful (1830, 1848) and unsuccessful (1832, 1870) revolutions throughout the 19th century.

Notes

External links

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1793

{{in lang, fr 1793 in law 1793 events of the French Revolution History of human rights Human rights in France Government of France Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1793 Human rights instruments