Andrew Smeathers
History 319
Professor Hanson
September 22, 2012
The French Revolution and Human Rights; A Brief Documentary History
The French Revolution played a major part in the development human rights for the French people. It also has helped lead to the thought of a world with common human rights. The French Revolution continues to impact countries to this day with different documents from the Revolution. Many documents from this time period live through the years as timeless pieces, still relevant in today’s ever changing society. The book The French Revolution and Human Rights; A Brief Documentary History by Lynn Hunt shows many of the excerpts that made an impact during the French Revolution and beyond. From the forty documents in this book there are many that truly exemplify the importance of this revolution.
The first document of importance is Natural Law by Denis Diderot. Diderot writes the definition of Natural Law in the 1755 Encyclopedia and gives the thought of a society based only on universal human rights. Natural law reinforces many of the ideas portrayed in this book. “Natural law provided the most basic foundation for all human society, that is, it defined what was naturally just for all humans, regardless of country or time period.” (Hunt, p. 35). This idea is the basis for any and all revolution whether it is the French Revolution or a present day one.
Knowledge can lead to a great change. In Natural Law it talks about how knowledge will inevitable lead to enlightenment. When people become educated they are able to act upon reason and knowledge rather than superstition, bigotry or religious fanaticism. (Hunt p. 36). The natural law defined in this document is the same ideas and concepts that the United States believes in today. “Laws should be made for everyone, and not for one person.” (Hunt p. 37). Natural law has the idea that no one is handed special privileges for no reason. There should be no kings or aristocracy because, “in every individual the general will is a pure act of understanding that reasons in the silence of the passions about what a man can demand of his fellow man and about what his fellow man has the right to demand of him.” (Hunt p. 37). Many times kings were self-centered people that only had the thought of self-improvement. There was hardly a thought of helping the working class or the Third Estate. This is an impressive idea that was written in 1755. To have the idea of a society were everyone is on an even playing field with equal opportunities is far from what France was doing during the time this was written. The seed was planted now they just needed knowledge to make it grow.
Knowledge is what led to many great articles being written. One of them is by Abbé Sieyès called, What is the Third Estate? This article is a very straightforward critique of French political, social and privilege inequalities. According to Sieyès a nation requires both private employment and public offices to survive and prosper. Private employment includes four separate classes. The first class is the families that work the land and water. Second class is made up of the people who add more value to the goods produced by the first class. The third class is the merchants and wholesale traders. Finally the fourth class is in charge of private occupations and services that are everywhere from scientific and liberal professions down to the least esteemed domestic servants. (Hunt p. 65). These four classes are what are needed to have a nation that can survive and prosper. The people of the Third Estate make up all four of these classes. Sieyès makes it obvious that the Third Estate, which makes up 95 percent of the French population, do all of the things that keep the country running yet receive no benefits for their hard work.
People of nobility in France receive glamor and honor for usually no reason. Thinking about what Natural Law states this is neither fair nor acceptable. Natural rights are equal opportunity to all people no matter who they are. “Whatever your services, whatever your talents, you will only go so far and no further. Honors are not for your sort.” (Hunt p. 66). For many people living in France their entire life could be told before they were even born. There was little to no chance of moving up in the class system. This document raised many questions and added flame to the fire, which ultimately led the thought of a French Revolution into a reality.
The third and last document is the 1791 Declaration of the Rights of Women by Olympe De Gouges. In a world where human equality is still being tested the thoughts expressed in this document are some of the same ideas that helped women in America gain more rights in 1920. The document over natural law gives a baseline of how all humans should be treated, yet in France during the 18th century women had even fewer rights than many of the men who only had a handful.
De Gouges points out a list of seventeen rights of women with the first being, “Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility.” (Hunt p. 125). This idea is not unrealistic in today’s society but during the 18th century women were not held equal to men. For De Gouges to have this revolutionary idea of equality for women in 1791 shows the knowledge that she and many others had during this time period. Throughout this document she not only speaks about the rights of women giving them more freedom and responsibility, but also how women and men should be equal. She does not denounce men or act as if women are on a higher pedestal; she only focuses on how the two are equal. “For maintenance of public authority and for expenses of administration, taxation of women and men is equal; she takes part in all forced labor service, in all painful tasks; she must therefore have the same proportion in the distribution of places employments, offices, dignities and in industry.” (Hunt p. 126). De Gouges gives the French women and women today hope for equality with this document.
Many articles and documents created in the 18th century will not have connections to today’s life. However, many of the documents in this book and from the French Revolution are timeless pieces that are still used to inspire revolutions today. The thought of man and women being equal is still a controversial part of America, as well as the thought of Natural Law for all people in the world. The fact that these writers were able to create these impressive documents more than two hundred years ago and they still have importance in today’s life shows just how big of an impact the French Revolution had for the French and the world.