Primary sourceDocument1789

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

National Constituent Assembly · 1789

The founding 1789 document of the French Revolution, whose Article 16 enshrines Montesquieu's doctrine of the separation of powers.

This revolutionary document turned Montesquieu's theory of separated powers into founding French constitutional law.

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Painted allegory of the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. A title plaque reads 'Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen' above two tablets of text. A seated woman with chains and a standing winged figure with a wand flank the plaque, under a radiant eye in a triangle. — Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, National Constituent Assembly, 1789. Museum of National Archives.

About this source

What it is

Adopted by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, this declaration set out the natural and civil rights of citizens. It was drafted with contributions from the Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Jefferson, Abbé Sieyès and others, and is held today in the Museum of National Archives.

Why it matters

The declaration drew directly on Enlightenment ideas, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau's social contract and Montesquieu's doctrine of the separation of powers. Article 16 states that a society without separation of powers has no constitution at all, turning Montesquieu's political theory into revolutionary law. It became a founding statement of individual liberty and democracy, later included in French constitutions.

Look closer

How does Article 16 put Montesquieu's ideas from The Spirit of the Laws into legal language?
Why might revolutionaries want to root their new laws in respected philosophical ideas?
What groups might have been excluded from the 'universal' rights this document describes?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Baron de Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Olympe de Gouges, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and Marquis de Lafayette on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.