The late 18th century was a period rife with revolutionary fervor and transformative ideas that altered the course of history. The American Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, ratified on August 26, 1789, did not merely address specific grievances or abstract ideals: They were radical manifestos that proclaimed new principles of governance and human dignity and challenged centuries-old political and social structures.
The Declaration of Independence’s assertion that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” serves both as a formal pronouncement of the colonies' break from British rule and an outline of foundational principles that shaped the development of American democracy.
Similarly, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, drafted at the start of the French Revolution, reflects the fundamental principles of the Enlightenment. It set forth a range of individual and communal rights, including liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression, and sought to dismantle legal inequalities at the heart of the existing way of life.
Historian Alexander Mikaberidze explores these groundbreaking documents and the individuals who dared to imagine a new order that ignited flames of liberty that spread throughout the world. These documents reflected the societal values and political tensions of their times as well as expressed universal philosophical ideas of popular sovereignty and rights. Mikaberidze draws parallels and highlights differences in the ideological currents that fueled the American and French revolutions and how notions of rights and governance have evolved and continue to influence struggles for democracy and human rights today.
Mikaberidze is professor of history at Louisiana State University, Shreveport.
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