Analyze a primary source and explain its significance
The Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man is an important document that shapes the world we live in today. As its title indicates, it officially granted men rights during the French Revolution such as the freedom of expression and the rights of liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. Although the rights of many, including women, are still unprotected, it marked a symbolic move to march towards Enlightenment values of liberty and equality as shown in many of its clauses. It is the first step towards political, legal, social, and economic change to realize the goals of the radicals. The paragraphs below will analyze the document and explain its significance in detail.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man was issued by the French Nationalism Assembly on August 26, 1789, proclaiming all men natural rights. It outlines the law’s and men’s relationship to prevent the government from wielding too much power, while independently declaring men many rights. First, in political terms, the document states in clause 6 that the “law is the expression of general will” and allowing people to have representatives in their government. In other words, the clause grants people the right to decide their laws. This idea is influenced by Rousseau as he introduced it during the Age of Enlightenment, a period where people turned to reasoning to solve social problems. Furthermore, the declaration stated that military is for the good of the people, reiterating the people’s rights to control their government by proclaiming that every aspect of the government’s power is for the people’s good, not for the good of the government that has power over the military. In legal aspect, the document limits the power of the law over the people in many of its clauses, such as clause 5 which states that “Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society,” so that the government cannot use law to its own benefit such as controlling the media and root out suspected anti-government protesters. Furthermore, clause 9, which grants men the right to be innocent until guilty and therefore shouldn’t be treated harshly, stifle any opportunity the government can take to undermine its enemy who are innocent under the law. In legal terms, the declaration prevents the government from exploiting the law to its benefit. In social aspect, the declaration grants men equal natural rights, as expressed explicitly in the first clause that “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” Moreover, clause 4 grant all men liberty, which is defined as “the right to do anything that doesn’t cause harm,” as their natural rights, an important idea of John Locke, again demonstrating how the enlightenment values are deeply reflected in the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Last, the document’s 11th clause gave men the freedom of expression, which again prevents the government from rooting out dissent. In all, the declaration affects the social aspect of France by granting equality and liberty to all men. The declaration lastly affects the economic aspect of France by granting men the right to own property (clause 2 and 17), decide their tax (clause 14), and pay them in proportion to their wealth (clause 13).
The historical document, although were quite vague and did not right away end the government’s abuse of power, serve as a precursor to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and outlines much of the rights we have today. It reflects much enlightenment values, including Rouseau’s “general will,” John Locke’s “natural rights,” Voltaire’s “freedom of opinion,” and many other ideas of the French Revolution, and incorporated them into society gradually. For example, in most countries today, taxes are collected in accordance with people’s wealth. Another example is the right to remain innocent until guilty in much of today’s legal system. The last example is use of the law as expression of general will through representatives, which is present in most country’s political systems today. We owe much of our rights today to the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which is the incorporation of enlightenment values and ideals, which grants people natural rights, into a government.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man is an important document that shapes the world we live in today. As its title indicates, it officially granted men rights during the French Revolution such as the freedom of expression and the rights of liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. Although the rights of many, including women, are still unprotected, it marked a symbolic move to march towards Enlightenment values of liberty and equality as shown in many of its clauses. It is the first step towards political, legal, social, and economic change to realize the goals of the radicals. The paragraphs below will analyze the document and explain its significance in detail.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man was issued by the French Nationalism Assembly on August 26, 1789, proclaiming all men natural rights. It outlines the law’s and men’s relationship to prevent the government from wielding too much power, while independently declaring men many rights. First, in political terms, the document states in clause 6 that the “law is the expression of general will” and allowing people to have representatives in their government. In other words, the clause grants people the right to decide their laws. This idea is influenced by Rousseau as he introduced it during the Age of Enlightenment, a period where people turned to reasoning to solve social problems. Furthermore, the declaration stated that military is for the good of the people, reiterating the people’s rights to control their government by proclaiming that every aspect of the government’s power is for the people’s good, not for the good of the government that has power over the military. In legal aspect, the document limits the power of the law over the people in many of its clauses, such as clause 5 which states that “Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society,” so that the government cannot use law to its own benefit such as controlling the media and root out suspected anti-government protesters. Furthermore, clause 9, which grants men the right to be innocent until guilty and therefore shouldn’t be treated harshly, stifle any opportunity the government can take to undermine its enemy who are innocent under the law. In legal terms, the declaration prevents the government from exploiting the law to its benefit. In social aspect, the declaration grants men equal natural rights, as expressed explicitly in the first clause that “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” Moreover, clause 4 grant all men liberty, which is defined as “the right to do anything that doesn’t cause harm,” as their natural rights, an important idea of John Locke, again demonstrating how the enlightenment values are deeply reflected in the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Last, the document’s 11th clause gave men the freedom of expression, which again prevents the government from rooting out dissent. In all, the declaration affects the social aspect of France by granting equality and liberty to all men. The declaration lastly affects the economic aspect of France by granting men the right to own property (clause 2 and 17), decide their tax (clause 14), and pay them in proportion to their wealth (clause 13).
The historical document, although were quite vague and did not right away end the government’s abuse of power, serve as a precursor to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and outlines much of the rights we have today. It reflects much enlightenment values, including Rouseau’s “general will,” John Locke’s “natural rights,” Voltaire’s “freedom of opinion,” and many other ideas of the French Revolution, and incorporated them into society gradually. For example, in most countries today, taxes are collected in accordance with people’s wealth. Another example is the right to remain innocent until guilty in much of today’s legal system. The last example is use of the law as expression of general will through representatives, which is present in most country’s political systems today. We owe much of our rights today to the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which is the incorporation of enlightenment values and ideals, which grants people natural rights, into a government.