Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen) is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of natural right, the rights of man are universal: valid at all times and in every place, pertaining to human nature itself. Although it establishes fundamental rights for French citizens and "all the members of the social Body", it addresses neither the status of women nor slavery; despite that, it is a precursor document to international human rights instruments.

The last article of Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was adopted 26 or 27 August 1789 by the National Constituent Assembly (Assemblée nationale constituante), during the period of the French Revolution, as the first step toward writing a constitution for France. It was prepared and proposed by the Marquis de Lafayette. A second and lengthier declaration, known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793 was later adopted.