Document Analysis: The Declaration Of The Rights Of Man

Carly Ato-Davies Professor Carhart 1010-80 16 March 2024 Declaration of the Rights of Man Analysis The Declaration of the Rights of Man is a document that was inspirational to the French revolution. It gave liberty and freedom to the people and was the start of a democracy. The document discusses the 17 different rights to people and many of them were to ensure that no one was unfairly punished. This is very different from what was happening in the past because before the French revolution, people could be punished based on their views, opinions, or religion. The declaration was necessary to improve the country and to unify people. It also was inspired by the Enlightenment era, which set forth the beginning of a new political era for France.
This, along with the economic tensions of France's growing debt, created a need for change. France’s society before the new laws was largely structured on corporate privilege; this meant that certain higher class social groups had special privileges that set them apart from others. For example, nobles were not expected to pay taxes to the king because they directly served him, but commoners were. This imbalance is only making economic problems worse. Aside from economic problems, there were also social conflicts arising and people were less afraid to voice their opinions because of the Enlightenment. This was the first period in which the term public opinion was being used. The power for the citizens to have a voice helped the revolution, and led to the creation of the Declaration of Rights of Man. In the document it states, “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.” This was groundbreaking for its time and one of the most important articles in the document. It gave the citizens of France full independence to be who they want to be and not face oppression for