Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen The National Assembly, in France, issued the Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen on August 26 1789. It was a document that declared all men were born free and had the rights to liberty. It was a groundbreaker in the start of the French Revolution. Many events took place during this time that led to the National Assembly being formed and led to issuance of this declaration. At the time of the French Revolution France was experiencing what we consider a recession.
There was a food shortage among the working class and a financial crisis among the nation the contributed the revolt of the French people. France was under the rule of an absolute monarchy at the time; the ruler was King Louis XVI. The National Assembly was formed with the intent to pursue change in the economical system relentlessly. The Declaration of Man and the Citizen shares many of the same points as the United States Declaration of Independence including declaring basic human rights to freedom and liberty and the pursuit of a just tax system.
After examining this document and the events that occurred simultaneously, I discovered that there are many similarities in the troubles that plagued the French during the French Revolution and the economical disparity we currently face in the U. S. However, there are some key differences in the course of action utilized to pursue change. King Louis XVI was aware of the financial turmoil of the nation and sought the advice of many financial advisors in attempt to resolve the issues at hand.
All the financial advisors felt that the economic crisis was caused by a flawed tax system. The king turned a deaf ear to all but one of the advisors. In 1783, after finally conceiting that the tax issue must be address he appointed Charles de Calonne as controller general of finance. Calonne suggested a shift in the way the tax burden was allocated. Instead of having the poor shoulder the largest part of the tax burden, he thought it best to have the wealthy carry the larger taxes and to tax land in proportion to its size.
He also wanted to tax the exempt nobility. The French nobles refused. King Louis XVI finally decided, out of desperation, to convene the Estates-General in attempt to come to a resolution. This was unhelpful because two of the three branches of the Estates-General were tax exempt, the nobles and the clergy. The third group was representative of the general French population, and was a much larger group. However, each branch of the Estates-General received one vote. The third branch, representing the general population, separated and formed the National Assembly.
