The Declaration of the Rights of Man is another significant outcome of Enlightenment ideas. It is an important document of the French Revolution and shows the need for people to have natural rights at all times. Politically, the Enlightenment has been seen as preparing the ground for the French Revolution, whose motto of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity portrays important ideals which manage to find their way into the Declaration of the Rights of Man. (Harvey 471) It became the platform of freedom and equality by law. This declaration was influenced by by the Enlightenment philosophers, and the core of the document submits a powerful statement on what the French Revolution was about. Again, the Declarations of the Rights of Man portrays the …show more content…
philosophical and political ideas of the Enlightenment. Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Beccaria can all be seen in the Declaration of Rights. (Batiza 675). Their ideas of the social contract, individualism, and distribution of power is evident within the document. Through the first four articles of the document, Locke's ideologies are present. The first article is: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good. (DECLARATION). Here is Locke's individual rights. He believed in freedom and equality of the people. Article 2 reflects Locke's ideas on life, liberty and property, 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.” (DECLARATION) Article 3 speaks about how the sovereignty lies in the people and it is their will. Article 4 states: “Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.” (DECLARATION) Locke's notion of freedom resides in this article, and how the ability to do what does not injure anyone else, no man may intentionally interfere with another, and what one does on their own cannot interfere with anyone else unintentionally as well. Also in article 11, Locke's freedom of speech and writing is evident; however if what a person speaks about or publishes harms another person, then they are responsible for their actions. Article 5 contains the ideologies of Montesquieu, it states: Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.” (DECLARATION). This is where Montesquieu's notion on laws is evident, no unnecessary laws should exist to disrupt necessary ones. Montesquieu also appears in article 16: “A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.” (DECLARATION). Montesquieu's idea to observe the law, one must instill some type of force that allows for a police that works within the law. Rousseau is in article 6 which discusses the the general will of all of society, and the purpose of government is to carry out that will. Cesare Beccaria and his work on Crimes and Punishments is very important in articles 7, 8, and 9 of this declaration. Many chapters of his book outline these articles. He is devoted to the issues of torture. Beccaria outlines this enlightened case against torture and cruelty. Article 7 eliminates unjust imprisonment that is not in accordance to the law. (Beccaria 19) Article 8 states: “The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offence.” The law exists to be interpreted correctly and to be obeyed. The punishment for breaking laws will be as satisfactory to what wrong act the person committed. (Beccaria 15) Finally article 9 displays that a man is innocent before proven guilty. No one should be punished without proof and witnesses. Credibility was important to Beccaria and is evident in the document. (Beccaria 21) Articles 12 and 13 are very significant in particular because they do not represent any philosopher, but instead represent the time itself. The influence of the Enlightenment and its thinkers helped the French people become enlightened. The rights for security and the right in the decision of taxation (input on how much a person can be taxed) is necessary for the people and they achieve that. Constitutions like the Declaration of the Rights of Man were influenced by this belief system from the Enlightenment philosophers. (Batiza 676) It helped develop these people to become what they needed to be in order to successfully revolt. As it can be seen in the article of the Declarations of the Rights of Man, the French people were heavily influenced by the political philosophy of the Enlightenment and by the Enlightenment principles of necessary human rights. Jean-Jacques Rousseau is someone who was considered to be the father of socialism and collectivism. He believed in the general will and the good for all of the people. The purpose of the government is to carry out the general will of the people and this can be bad because if they do not do that, society can collapse. He was concerned with the rights of the governed and the power of the people. (Harvey 475). Putting the power in either the hands of a single monarch or an elite group of people is bad for society in his eyes. However, as was the case when Robespierre in regard to Rousseau, his understanding of Rousseau's intellectual ideas was inaccurate. (Arnold 67) Rousseau’s ideas involved the demand of swearing an oath of allegiance to the public body. Rousseau does set out important limits to sovereign power, but he also wanted a united community. (Harvey 475). Now Robespierre takes this in the wrong way, and believes that the only way to unite the community and root out its enemies was through fear. The Social Contract had come into the power of the Jacobins and Robespierre was in control. (Rousseau 21). Robespierre argued that the need for terror was necessary for the revolution to continue, but instead this halted it. He believed that the state could only be saved by the virtue of its people, and that the implementation of terror would maintain them. He stated: “That the enemies should be subdued of liberty through terror and you will be right as founders of the Republic. The government of revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny.” (ROBESPIERRE) He believes that terror would root out the enemies, but this accomplished more bad than good. Denunciations would implicate even innocent people and get them arrested or killed. People would abuse these implementations made by Robespierre to seek out their own revenge. The progress of the revolution had become halted by the administration of terror. As Robespierre attempted to stop the people from sabotaging the Revolution, he became one of the people sabotaging himself. His policy led to the execution of many of the Revolution's original and best advocates. It is also possible that Rousseau could be at fault for this as his habit of discussing political questions in terms of the broadest generalizations. There is no doubt that the political influence of Rousseau on Robespierre is not clear and simple, he misunderstood Rousseau’s ideas. (Rousseau 21) Rousseau's name was associated with beginnings of the revolution, and as well with the governmental authority in which it was halted by Robespierre. (Rousseau 20) The ideologies that arose from the Enlightenment became the voice of the French Revolution.
A society that was built on equality was the main goal in an important political movement. The Enlightenment ideas and philosophers acted as the stepping stones for a new foundation to be constructed. The influenced third estate radically changed France by abolishing the old habits of the corrupt regime and replaced it with a new, sustainable one. The Enlightenment progressed the French Revolution by influencing the French Revolutionists and by creating important documents. The ideas of Locke and constitutionalism, Montesquieu and government change, Voltaire's ideas on equality, and Beccaria on unjust torture, all these ideas pushed the French Revolution forward. The people of France began to believe in this system of belief that would save their country from despair. This belief system resulted in them revolting and advocating for change. Abby Sieyes' document helped kick start the desire for rising up, and then followed the Tennis Court Oath and the Declarations of the Rights of Man which implemented the existence of the revolution. The ideas of these Enlightenment thinkers in the French Revolution is evident, and although the ideas of Rousseau influenced Robespierre to halt the revolution, the end of his reign of terror also disrupted the radicalism. Thus, it cannot be doubted that the ideologies of the Enlightenment period progressed the success of the revolution in
France.
The enlightenment ideas affected politics for both the French and the American peoples through the form of government and individual rights. Thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, believed in the individual right of man as a citizen of a sovereign nation. In 1789, Marquis de Lafayette used Rousseau and other free thinker’s ideas to draft his Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to the National Constituent Assembly in France (http://www.pbs.org/marieantoinette/revolution/america_france.html). This established universal rights for individuals that always existed at all times. The document shows many similarities to American documents such as the declaration of Human Rights in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. For instance, they all show a relationship through the declaration of individual rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. However, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen focuses more on individualism while American documents focus more on a community “We the People” (http://www.pbs.org/marieantoin...
In 1685 there sparked a new age in Europe, the Enlightenment. During this time enlightened thinkers brought forth enhanced ideas of equality. Men, woman, rich, poor, monarchy, or peasant, everyone should have equal rights. In 1789 France was especially influenced by the new ideals. The french realized that they were still following the social ladder of the feudal system. They could not buy bread because of the raised prices, but the Monarchy was eating a feast for every meal. They had no say in what happened to their government, and their inadequate king kept making poor decisions. You might even say they took the enlightenment to the next level and started a revolution based on equality. Although the french were fighting for freedom (like the enlightened thinkers), they were not using reason or tolerance, two key elements of the Enlightenment.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man was formed and intended in 1789 by the National Assembly of France to be the very backbone for the constitution. This allowed the nation of France to become liberated and achieve a more secure and structured society by changing from that of an absolute monarchy to a more constitutional democracy. France sought to gain equality and freedom for all individuals; after being fed up with the constant corruption for so long. France managed to successfully obtain an equal nation and government, in which power was given to the people and not to some tyrannical or dictatorial figure.
The citizens of France, inspired by the enlightenment, desired a government run by the people. Marquis de Lafayette wrote, “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights; social distinctions may be based only upon general usefulness” (de Lafayette 783). The French wanted to bring equality to all classes. The French revolution brought much more social change than the American revolution. Inspired by Lafayette’s declaration that, “no group, no individual may exercise authority not emanating expressly therefrom” (de Lafayette 783), the class system was destroyed. The revolutionaries were open to ending slavery, however women remained marginalized within the social structure of France. Similarly to the American revolution, the enlightenment ideas that drove the French revolution were not applied to society as a
In one corner we have a nation, fed up with the corruption and constant bullying of their big brother nation, seeking the approval of the world for a revolution. In the other corner we have a nation, bent on gaining the equality among all individuals in their state, coming together to lay down the law to their king. Both America and France had a thirst for a new equal nation and government in which power was given to the people and not to a tyrannical figure. Individuals from both of these countries sat down and wrote up a letter of declaration in demand of the freedom that they so rightfully deserved. Both of them won that freedom, as the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen flourished with success in the late 18th century. ‘How did these two important documents come about’ is the question we should be asking ourselves. What separated these two monumental letters from each other? What gave each of them their fire, their spark to gain their rights to liberty? America’s Declaration of Independence focused more on America gaining sole ownership of their nation, abolishing their connections with the British and their tyrant King George, and setting up their own government based on Natural law and equality among all men. France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen confronted the king on his neglect to the equal rights of man, laid down the basic principles of how the nation should be run, and proclaimed that the nation should be and is going to be run by the people for the people. With those key differences stated as well as several other small values, such as taxation, oppression, and security, my concern is how both methods worked so efficiently given their varianc...
The French Revolution was a tumultuous period, with France exhibiting a more fractured social structure than the United States. In response, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proposed that “ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities, and of the corruption of governments” (National Assembly). This language indicates that the document, like its counterpart in the United States, sought to state the rights of men explicitly, so no doubt existed as to the nature of these rights. As France was the center of the Enlightenment, so the Enlightenment ideals of individuality and deism are clearly expressed in the language of the document. The National Assembly stated its case “in
The English Bill of Rights (1689) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) are roughly around the same period, in that it is possible to think the both documents share similar ideologies. To the thought’s dismay, it is not. Even if both documents start from the same question of taxation, the outputs vary enormously in that each has different aims: the English Bill of Rights (shortened as the English Bill from now on) only changes the crown and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (shortened as the French Declaration) changes the whole society. However, they are similar in that both strived for the representation of the masses.
There are many different ways in which the Enlightenment affected the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. One way was the by the idea of a Social Contract; an agreement by which human beings are said to have abandoned the "state of nature" in order to form the society in which they now live. HOBBES, LOCKE, and J.J. ROUSSEAU each developed differing versions of the social contract, but all agreed that certain freedoms had been surrendered for society's protection and that the government has definite responsibilities to its citizens. Locke believed that governments were formed to protect the natural rights of men, and that overthrowing a government that did not protect these rights was not only a right, but also an obligation. His thoughts influenced many revolutionary pamphlets and documents, including the Virginia Constitution of 1776, and the Declaration of Independence.
The Bill of Rights and Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen are based on the same principles of natural rights; therefore each document is similar in protecting the people's natural rights. However, despite their similarities, their differences are apparent due to the social situations in which they were adopted. The Bill of Rights stood to protect the freedoms of each individual by establishing a democratic government. The French Revolution eliminated the hierarchy of class and established equality among men with the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. Several influences from past philosophers and documents assisted the frame work of the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Rights and Citizen.
The church’s robust grip on religious expression shattered as medieval society transitioned into a period known as the Reformation. Characterized by the rejection of common ideology, the Reformation sparked religious curiosity. Reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther offered interpretations of the Bible in direct opposition to the Catholic Church’s teachings, forcing Europeans to examine and formulate their own beliefs. This style of thinking was foreign to European society because up to this point in history Europeans were passive absorbers of Catholic Church ideology. Hence, it was natural that an era considered the Age of Enlightenment followed the period of rejection and questioning known as the Reformation. The Age of Enlightenment did not merely confine itself to religious expression, but spread throughout natural and social science. Thus, the Age of Enlightenment marked the beginning of academic and religious philosophy and allowed great minds to think free from restriction and condemnation of established institution. As the perception of natural
In the late eighteenth century the ideas of liberty and equalities were beginning to flourish throughout the world, especially in Europe and in America (p.691). Part of this was believed to be due to the Enlightenment, for it changed the ways people thought about life. People were seeking equality and individual freedoms. They wanted equality, but it was an uncertain thing for the liberals argued that all citizens should have identical rights and civil liberties, and nobility should not have special privileges (However they did not believe that women had these rights or that there should be economical equality). It was these thoughts about individual rights and equalities, which fueled the people to create a revolution in both America and Europe (More specifically France).
The French Revolution was a period of time in which France underwent many changes, many which could be considered revolutionary. France’s whole system and way of being was completely changed. New ideas were proposed everyday. An idea is revolutionary when it is a new idea, when it is something that has never been thought of before. The Declaration of the Rights of Women written by Olympe de Gouges on September 1791, was one of the ideas proposed to the National Assembly (Hunt, Web 1). The document proposed that since the French Revolution was all about finding equality for all people, women should be equal to men and therefore, should have the same rights as men did. Women at the time live in terrible conditions. They had little access to education, and therefore could not enter professional occupations that required advanced education, were legally deprived of the right to vote, and were not considered citizens (Class Discussion Notes). If equal rights were not given to women, the French Revolution had not reached its full potential, according to Gouges. She expressed this idea in her document, saying, “This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society” (Gouges, Web). Anyone that questioned the Revolution was immediately put to death (Class Discussion Notes). If Gouges’ document and ideas were important enough to catch the attention of the National Assembly and for her to be put to death, her ideas could be considered important and revolutionary (Britannica, Web 1) But, the document was not revolutionary. The Declaration of the Rights of Women was not a revolutionary document because its ideas were taken from other people and were no...
The Enlightenment was a major influence of the French Revolution. The Enlightenment caused the revolution in three ways. First of all, the Enlightenment made people see how France was not a perfect society. It opened their eyes to the fact that France was helping other countries more. For example, the French government gave money to support the American Revolution while the people in their own country need money. Also, Voltaire who was an Enlightenment thinker caused uproar by the peasants upon his return to France when he announced that England was superior to France (Voltaire 7). Second, it made people skeptical about whether the government was there to fulfill their duty of protecting the people’s natural rights. The Enlightenment encouraged people to question divine right, the God-given authority rulers claimed to have (Enlightenment, Its Origins and the French Revolution 15). Finally, it made the third estate realize how the taxation was simply greed. It made their eyes open to the fact that...
On August 26, 1789, the assembly issued the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.” Through judicial matters, this document was written in order to secure due process and to create self-government among the French citizens. This document offered to the world and especially to the French citizens a summary of the morals and values of the Revolution, while in turn justifying the destruction of a government; especially in this case the French government, based upon autocracy of the ruler and advantage. The formation of a new government based upon the indisputable rights of the individuals of France through liberty and political uniformity.
World Studies Summer Homework Analytic Essay The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen has tremendous importance to the French History, as well as the Declaration of Independence has significant importance to the history of the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence had a huge significance to the United States, as the document declared our independence from Great Britain. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen limits the power of the crown, and authority of the government, and gives more freedom to citizens from the government and crown. Both documents have great importance, in both the United States, and French history.