The Society of the Rights of Man (, SDH) was a French republican association with

Jacobin The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...

roots, formed during the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

in 1830, replacing another republican association, the Society of the Friends of the People (France). It played a major role in the June riots of 1832 in Paris and the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

Origins

The origins of the Society had its foundations on a previous organization, The Friends of the People ()'. This organization was founded in a meeting which took place on July 30. It created the first draft of the societies' Manifesto and coincided with the publication of the famous ''Proclamation du duc d'Orléans'' by Adolphe Thiers. After a failed attempt to discuss their grievances with their municipality, the Society of Friends of the People published their manifesto in the republican newspaper The Tribune of the Departments ().
Following the publication of their manifesto they continued their activity; protesting the crowning of

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

. Originally 120 members the Society began to gain traction, eventually reaching more than 300. Admission relied on either notoriety or on declarations of patriotism. Speeches given would draw in a reasonable crowd; Claude cites around 1500. However, mirroring the events of the French Revolution it lacked working-class men. It was officially dissolved in December 1832. Most of the big names like Blanqui,

Ulysse Trélat (politician) Ulysse Trélat (13 November 1798 – 29 January 1879) was a French medical doctor and politician. He was briefly Minister of Public Works in 1848. Life Ulysse Trélat was born on 13 November 1798 in Montargis, Loiret, the son of a notary. Trél ...

and other known politicians were all acquitted.

Organization

The SDH was modelled on another French secret Society, the Charbonnerie, organised in small groups of less than twenty members, each given names that evoked Jacobin tradition: 'Robespierre', 'Marat', 'Babeuf', 'Louvel', 'Blackjack January', 'War with the castles', 'Washington', etc. They were a nationwide organisation, consisting of group sizes of between 10 and less than 20 members, this allowed them to circumvent the law which required a permit for groups of more than 20 members (this law was amended in February 1834). They were the first organisation to extend its educational activities to the working class. In Paris, there were 170 groups with a total of approximately 3 000 members. Its network extended into the province and would account, according to then police reports, approximately 4 000 members. The official publication of the organisation was ''

La Tribune des départements LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

'' published by

Armand Marrast Armand Marrast (June 5, 1801, Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne, Saint-Gaudens–March 10, 1852, Paris) was a French journalist, politician and List of mayors of Paris, mayor of Paris. Editor of ''La Tribune'' (1830-35) and ''Le National'' (from 1836), ...

. It published very revolutionary articles often insulting the King

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

and its government.

Members and principles

The management committee of the SDH was made up of representatives of the extreme-left like Audry de Puyraveau or Voyer d' Argenson, and of young republican militants such as

Éléonore-Louis Godefroi Cavaignac Éléonore-Louis Godefroi Cavaignac (30 May 18015 May 1845), better known as Godefroi Cavaignac, was a French politician and journalist. He was born in Paris, the eldest son of Jean-Baptiste Cavaignac and the brother of Louis-Eugène Cavaignac, ...

Joseph Sobrier Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

Joseph Guinard Joseph-Auguste Guinard (1799–1874) was a French politician. He was elected as a deputy to the Constituent Assembly in 1848 through 1849. In the Constituent Assembly, Guinard caucused with the Mountain party The Mountain Party, also known ...

. Moderates included

Antoine Richard du Cantal Antoine Richard "du Cantal" (4 February 1802 – 10 February 1891) was a French medical doctor, veterinarian, agronomist and politician. Early years Antoine Richard was born in Pierrefort, Cantal, on 4 February 1802. He enlisted as a volunteer i ...

, the German writer

Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...

(author of ''

Woyzeck ''Woyzeck'' () is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. Büchner wrote the play between July and October 1836, yet left it incomplete at his death in February 1837. The play first appeared in 1877 in a heavily edited version by Karl Emil F ...

'', amongst other works), although this is not proven. But soon the radical elements gained the upper hand and published a manifesto on "" in the journal ''

La Tribune () is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH. From 1993 to 2007, was part of LVMH. In 2010, Alain Weill, the chair ...

'' on October 22, 1833, demanding a return to a government along Jacobin principles: strict

secularity Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

; economic and educational leadership of the state, strict limitation of private property; nationalization and planning of the economy; etc. And insurrection and revolution was the way to achieve this goal. In 1834,

Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure (; 27 February 17673 March 1855) was a French lawyer and statesman. He is best known as the first head of state of the Second Republic, after the collapse of the July Monarchy as a result of the French Revolut ...

a lawyer and member of the Society associated the three famous terms together and published it in the '' Revue Républicaine'' which he edited: "Any man aspires to liberty, to equality, but he can not achieve it without the assistance of other men, without fraternity." (abridged translation, ''Realms of Memory'', Columbia University Press, 1996–1998).

Activities and history

During the funeral of General Lamarque riots broke out on June 5–6, 1832 organised by the Society. These were brutally put down by the police. Further riots followed in

Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1834. In April 1834, there were serious disturbances broke out in Paris following the passing of a law to curtail the activities of the Republican Society of Human Rights (changing the allowed group sizes) which spread to

. The disturbances were brutally put down by the army. It took 13,000 police and 4 days of fighting to put down the riot. All people living in an apartment block in the Rue Transnonain from where reportedly shots had been fired were massacred. This event was "caricatured" by the journal '' La Caricature'' under its editor

Charles Philipon Charles Philipon (19 April 1800 – 26 January 1862) was a French lithographer, caricaturist and journalist. He was the founder and director of the satirical political journals ''La Caricature (1830–1843), La Caricature'' and of ''Le C ...

, specifically in a lithograph by its prized satirical draughtsman

Honoré Daumier Honoré-Victorin Daumier (; February 26, 1808 – February 10 or 11, 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the July Revolution, Revolution of 1830 ...

, entitled ''Rue Transnonain, le 15 Avril 1834''. According to a slightly different account, the lithograph was designed for the subscription publication '' L'Association Mensuelle''. The profits were to promote freedom of the press and defrayed legal costs of a lawsuit against the satirical, politically progressive journal ''

Le Charivari ''Le Charivari'' was an illustrated magazine published in Paris, France, from 1832 to 1937. It published caricatures, political cartoons and reviews. After 1835, when the government banned political caricature, ''Le Charivari'' began publishing ...

'' to which Daumier contributed regularly. The police discovered the print hanging in the window of printseller Ernest Jean Aubert in the

Galerie Véro-Dodat The Galerie Véro-Dodat is one of the covered passages of Paris. It is located in the 1st arrondissement, connecting the Rue de Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs. It was built in 1826. History The Galerie Véro-Dodat ...

(a passageway in 1st arrondissement) and subsequently tracked down and confiscated as many of the prints they could find, along with the original lithographic stone on which the image was drawn. Existing prints of are survivors of this effort. On July 28, 1835, a Corsican member of the Society Giuseppe Marco Fieschi, together with two compatriots, attempted to assassinate King

using an "infernal machine" consisting of 20 gun-barrels bound and detonated together. Although 17 people died, the King survived. Fieschi himself was injured, captured, then nursed back to health only to be sentenced and subsequently guillotined.

Notable members

* Audry de Puyraveau * Voyer d' Argenson *

Godefroy Cavaignac Godefroy is a surname of Old French origin, and originally a given name, cognate with Geoffrey/Geoffroy/ Jeffrey/Jeffries, Godfrey, Gottfried, etc. Godefroy or Godefroi may refer to: People Given name * Godefroi, Count of Durbuy (d. before 1 ...

References

{{Authority control 1830 establishments in France 1840 disestablishments in France Secret societies in France Political parties established in 1830 Organizations disestablished in 1840 July Monarchy