The National assembly was known as
the constituent assembly because its role was to make a constitution for
France. But before the constitution could be made, it was necessary to
guarantee the rights of man. On 27 August 1789, the constituent assembly
met, its discussion was centered on the restoration of people's
political freedom and how to protect them. By the end of the session, it
had come out with a document called the declaration of the rights of
man and citizens, which was to act as a preamble to the French
constitution. It had the following declarations amongst others;
i)People
had the rights to rule themselves and that men were by nature equal and
therefore entitled to equal rights and privileges from the state. This
includes equality before the Law and taxation.
ii) It granted freedom of press, speech, worship. Association, ownership of property, security and resistance to oppression.
iii)
All government officials are public servants and are responsible to the
people. It continues that sovereignty is vested in the people who have
the final voice to determine their leadership.
iv)
Imprisonment was not allowed except by laws decided only by the people.
No one was to be arrested • without a proof of his or her guilt.
SIGNIFICANCE AND EVALUATION OF THE DECLARATION
i)
Its on record that the declaration of the rights of man and citizens
was the noblest side of the 1789 ; French revolution, without which it
might not have been a great even tin European History (Grant and '
Temperly, 1952, P24). The human rights that were declared became the
foundation for people's rights and freedom not only in France but the
entire world. These have been adopted by the present UNO. The UNO
charter has a special article (16) on the rights of man and citizens,
which was Xeroxed from that of France. Although the political liberties
were short-lived with the reign of terror France, they were resurrected
and have survived up to now.
ii) The declaration
destroyed the remains of segregative social system that had
characterized the French society prior to 1789 i.e. between the nobles
and the clergy against the third estate. It asserted equality of all men
by nature irrespective of social status or birth.
iii)
The declared rights of man confirmed the abolition of feudalism and
feudal dues in the history of France. However the abolition of feudal
dues worsened the financial crisis in France.
iv)
David Thomson describes the declaration of the rights of man, as the
most important event in the development of democratic and republican
ideas. This is justifiable because every citizen had the right to
influence state policies through elected representatives. This was
through national elections (direct or indirect), parliamentary debates
in framing national laws as against royal decrees. These were drastic
measures that challenged and reformed Bourbon despotism.
v)
The declared rights especially political liberties inspired the
oppressed masses outside France to struggle for their freedom. This was
witnessed in the future revolutions of Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland,
1848 and Russia. These revolutions were caused by the violation of human
rights, which were declared in France.
vi)
Although the declaration of the rights of man and citizens corrected the
wrongs in the French society, it had several loopholes. It accorded
Louis xvi a legal status on the forefront of French politics. He was
allowed to have power to choose, discipline, demote, promote and even
dismiss ministers. He was also given power to Veto the decision of the
national assembly. It was this that he used to refuse to sign the
declaration of the rights of man and citizens and the civil constitution
of the clergy.
vii) The document made people aware
of their rights but did not tell them about their duties yet the
politically charged atmosphere of France required people to know more
about their duties instead of their rights. This raised a lot of
expectations by the people from the government which was impossible
considering the financial situation of the country. Moreover most of the
taxes had been abolished yet the government had no other sources of
revenue to meet people's needs. Thus as “Ketlebey” puts it;
In the declaration of human rights the assembly lifted the curtains, which veiled an impossible liberty only to drop it again.
viii)
The declaration of the rights of man ignored the rights of women hot
until 1954 when it was adopted. Madam Olympe-de-Gouges pleaded for the
rights of women and citizen in vain. When she submitted it to the
national assembly in 1791, she was condemned as "outrageous and
scandalous and consequently she was guillotined. This was against the
principle of equality and gender balance.
ix)
Lastly, the freedom granted by the declaration of rights of man and
citizens made the Frenchmen crazy under emotional excitement of freedom.
They resorted to violence as a means of achieving whatever they wanted.
This is justified by the fact that;
“It was useless to take people on top of a mountain and show them wonderful plains that could not be given to them”
The
document made the Frenchmen knowledgeable about their rights and it
became a yardstick for measuring the worth of any government in France.
This is why the Frenchmen easily resorted to Violence against the
government when it failed to grant them such declared rights. ''' '
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