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A Vindication of the Rights of Men

Mary Wollstonecraft · 1790

Mary Wollstonecraft's 1790 pamphlet attacking Edmund Burke, published amid the same debate that produced Paine's Rights of Man.

Wollstonecraft's pamphlet appeared alongside Paine's Rights of Man in the same political debate over the French Revolution.

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About this source

What it is

This is a political pamphlet written by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1790, replying to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. It attacked hereditary privilege and defended republican ideas.

Why it matters

Wollstonecraft's pamphlet was part of the 'Revolution Controversy', the pamphlet war sparked by Burke's attack on the French Revolution. Thomas Paine's Rights of Man was the most famous response in this same debate, and together these works show how the French Revolution forced British thinkers to argue over liberty, monarchy, and rights. Wollstonecraft's work was also notable as an early feminist critique of Burke's ideas about gender and society.

Look closer

  • Why might several writers have responded to Burke at almost the same time?
  • How does Wollstonecraft's argument compare with Paine's in defending the French Revolution?
  • What does the fact that this book was first published anonymously tell you about the risks of radical writing?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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