the french declaration of the rights of man and citizen was influenced by the writings of
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: DÃ©claration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen), passed by France's National Constituent Assembly in August 1789, is a important document of the French Revolution and in the history of human and civil rights.[1] The Declaration was directly influenced by Thomas Jefferson, working with General Lafayette, who introduced it.[2] Influenced also by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place, pertaining to human nature itself. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by the law. It is included in the beginning of the constitutions of both the Fourth French Republic (1946) and Fifth Republic (1958) and is still current. Inspired by the Enlightenment philosophers, the Declaration was a core statement of the values of the French Revolution and had a major impact on the development of freedom and democracy in Europe and worldwide.[3]
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen While the French Revolution provided rights to a larger portion of the population, there remained a distinction between those who obtained the political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and those who did not. Those who were deemed to hold these political rights were called active citizens. Active citizenship was granted to men who were French, at least 25 years old, paid taxes equal to three days work, and could not be defined as servants (Thouret).[17] This meant that at the time of the Declaration only male property owners held these rights.[18] The deputies in the National Assembly believed that only those who held tangible interests in the nation could make informed political decisions.[19] This distinction directly affects articles 6, 12, 14, and 15 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen as each of these rights is related to the right to vote and to participate actively in the government. With the decree of 29 October 1789, the term active citizen became embedded in French politics.[20]