David+Spurlin

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

In 1789, the National Assembly of France passed a set of 17 rules called the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. It generally states that men are born equal and free and will remain that way. In this belief, everyone pays the same taxes. and has the same representation in government. They are also affected evenly by the law. This document was written mainly by the Marquis de Lafayette and his friend, Thomas Jefferson, who was now the U.S. ambassador to France. Jefferson had been the writer of the original Declaration of Independence, the American document that had seperated them from Britain. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was based off of that. This document was intended to create a constitutional monarchy, but Louis XVI refused to sign it. but when an angry mob showed up at his door in Versailles, he quickly passed the new legislation. But the King never really respected the new order, and so the constitutional monarchy was turned into a republic when Louis was beheaded.

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