The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was born out of the unhappiness of the French people. In case it wasn't clear, ordinary French men and women were no longer amused by their government, which basically consisted of a king and queen who'd never heard of a spending limit and a nobility that had never heard of paying taxes.
The people were dissatisfied and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was the first step in maybe getting some well-deserved change.
Questions About Dissatisfaction
- On a scale of one to death-by-guillotine how dissatisfied do you think the French people were when the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was written? What about at other points during the French Revolution?
- Do you think that the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen adequately addresses the dissatisfaction felt by the ordinary French citizen in 1789? Why or why not?
- If you could add one article to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen to better calm the fears and anger of the French people, what would it be?
Chew on This
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen does nothing to help the common, poor French people struggling to afford bread; it is merely a document for the benefit of the bourgeoisie alone.
The disappointment of the French people toward their king gave the world its first list of basic human rights with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.