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Revolutionary Rights Exploration
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Revolutionary Rights Exploration
Source A: Rights proclaimed in 1789
In August 1789, representatives of the French people announced a declaration of rights. It said that people are born free and equal in rights, and that social differences should benefit society. It named liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression as natural rights. The declaration said laws should reflect the people’s wishes, apply equally to everyone and allow citizens to help make laws through representatives. It also supported freedom to share ideas by speaking, writing and publishing.
Source B: A historian’s account
Before the Revolution, French society was organised into three estates. The clergy formed the First Estate, nobles the Second, and everyone else—including merchants, farmers and poorer people—the Third. The first two estates had major privileges and paid little tax, while many ordinary people faced heavy taxes and had little influence over government.
The 1789 Declaration challenged this unequal system by stating that men were free and equal in rights. Its promise of equal treatment under the law questioned the idea that a noble should receive special treatment. It also recognised property and freedom of expression as important rights.
The declaration did not give everyone equal rights in practice. Women were excluded from political rights such as voting and holding public office, and enslaved people in French colonies were not freed straight away. In 1791, Olympe de Gouges published a declaration calling for women to have equal rights. Revolutionary ideas later influenced human-rights movements around the world. In Aotearoa New Zealand, people continue to discuss and protect rights today.
Reading the sources
1.According to Source A, how were people described as being born in relation to rights?
2.Name the four natural rights listed in Source A.
3.Identify the three estates in pre-revolutionary French society and who belonged to each.
4.Which statement best explains equal treatment under the law?
- People receive the same legal treatment regardless of social rank.
- Only nobles can bring a case to court.
- The monarch decides who must follow each law.
- Legal protection is reserved for property owners.
5.Which groups did not fully receive the rights described in the sources? Select both.
- Women in France
- Enslaved people in French colonies
- French farmers
- Male merchants
Thinking with evidence
6.Give one detail from Source B that is not included in Source A.
7.Why might Olympe de Gouges’s decision to publish a call for women’s equal rights in 1791 have been courageous and significant? Use evidence from Source B.
8.Choose two rights named in Source A that remain important in Aotearoa New Zealand. Explain why each matters today.
9.Using at least one idea from the sources, explain why rights and equality matter in society today.
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