Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
by French National Assembly · Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen
Assigned by 2 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1789
- Language
- French
- Length
- Short · 4 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Approachable1 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe French Revolution and Human Rights, A Brief Documentary HistoryBedford/St. Martin's, 1996Lynn Hunt's collection sets the Declaration among the debates that produced it and the documents that answered it.
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The statement of principles adopted by the French National Assembly on 26 August 1789, six weeks after the fall of the Bastille, later placed at the head of the constitution of 1791. Its seventeen articles declare that men are born free and equal in rights, that the aim of political association is to preserve liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression, that sovereignty resides in the nation, that law is the expression of the general will, and that no one may be accused, arrested or punished except by law.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
