# “Human rights have evolved from historically limited privileges and philosophical claims into a universal system of rights recognised under international law.”
Critically discuss the origin, historical development and universalisation of human rights. In your answer, consider the contribution of:
1. the American Declaration of Independence (1776) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789);
## Introduction
The development of human rights from abstract ideas into a recognised system of international law is a central theme in modern legal and political history. The statement that rights have evolved from privileges is accurate, as they were once benefits granted by a ruler and could be easily removed. The American Declaration of Independence (1776) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) were crucial moments in this evolution. These documents helped to establish the idea that rights are inherent and universal. However, this essay will argue that while these declarations were foundational in articulating rights as a basis for legitimate government, their claims to universality were deeply flawed, demonstrating the contradictions and limitations that have marked the history of human rights.
## The American Declaration of Independence (1776)
The American Declaration of Independence marked a significant shift in thinking about the source and nature of rights. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, it was a revolutionary document that justified the American colonies’ separation from Great Britain. Its most influential passage states that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (US Declaration of Independence, 1776). The key contribution here was the concept of ‘unalienable’ rights. This meant that rights were not gifts from a king or government, but were natural, pre-existing, and could not be legitimately taken away. This directly challenged the established order of monarchical rule and established the principle that governments are created to protect these rights, not to grant them (Hunt, 2007).
However, the Declaration’s universalist language was not reflected in its practice. The phrase “all men” was highly exclusive. It did not apply to the hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans, whose bondage was essential to the economy of many colonies, nor did it include Native Americans or women. This created a fundamental contradiction: a nation founded on the principle of liberty simultaneously upheld the institution of slavery. This shows that at its very origin, the modern concept of human rights was limited in its application, serving the interests of a specific group—white, property-owning men—while claiming to speak for all humanity (Moeckli et al., 2018). Therefore, its contribution was more philosophical and inspirational than practical in creating universal equality at the time.
## The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
Following the American example, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) further advanced the codification of human rights. Emerging from the French Revolution, it aimed to abolish the aristocratic privileges of the *ancien régime* and establish a new political order based on popular sovereignty and individual rights. Article 1 famously proclaims, “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights,” while Article 2 lists the “natural and imprescriptible rights of man” as “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression” (Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1789). The French Declaration went further than its American counterpart by being formally incorporated into the French Constitution and providing a more extensive list of civil and political rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the presumption of innocence. Its influence was immense, spreading across Europe and inspiring liberal and democratic movements (Hunt, 2007).
Despite its broader scope, the French Declaration shared the same limitations regarding universality. The terms ‘man’ and ‘citizen’ were deliberately exclusionary. Women were denied political rights, a point famously highlighted by Olympe de Gouges in her 1791 *Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen*, which was largely ignored. Furthermore, the rights proclaimed in Paris were not extended to the enslaved populations in France’s colonies, such as Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti). The Haitian Revolution, a successful slave revolt that began in 1791, exposed the hypocrisy of the French Declaration’s claims to universal liberty (Ishay, 2008). This demonstrates that, like the American document, the French Declaration promoted a concept of rights that was revolutionary for its time but was ultimately bounded by the racial and gender prejudices of the era.
## Conclusion
In conclusion, the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen were undoubtedly pivotal in the journey of human rights from philosophical claims to legal principles. They established the powerful and enduring idea that individuals possess inherent rights that governments must respect. However, their contribution to the ‘universalisation’ of human rights was partial and contradictory. Both documents used universal language while denying these same rights to large segments of the population, including women, slaves, and colonial subjects. This early history shows that the concept of universal human rights was not born fully formed but has been a site of ongoing struggle and redefinition. It was only after the horrors of the Second World War that the international community attempted to create a genuinely universal framework with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), building upon the foundations laid in 1776 and 1789 but also seeking to correct their profound limitations.
## References
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789).
- Hunt, L. (2007) Inventing Human Rights: A History. W.W. Norton & Company.
- Ishay, M. R. (2008) The History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Globalization Era. 2nd edn. University of California Press.
- Moeckli, D., Shah, S., and Sivakumaran, S. (eds.) (2018) International Human Rights Law. 3rd edn. Oxford University Press.
- US Declaration of Independence (1776).
