"The Declaration of Rights was the death-warrant of the system of privilege, and so of the ancient regime Yet in the history of ideas it belonged rather to the past than to the future." Examine.

The Declaration as the ‘Death-Warrant’ of Privilege

The Declaration directly attacked the foundations of the ‘ancien regime’ by asserting the principles of equality before the law, liberty, and fraternity. Prior to 1789, French society was rigidly stratified into three Estates – the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. The first two Estates enjoyed significant privileges, including exemption from most taxes, exclusive access to high office, and feudal rights over the peasantry. The Declaration, through Articles 1 and 6, proclaimed that all men are born and remain free and equal in rights, and that sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. This effectively negated the legitimacy of inherited privilege and the divine right of kings.

• Abolition of Feudalism (August 4, 1789): Following the Declaration, the National Assembly abolished feudalism, stripping the nobility of their traditional rights and dues.
• Confiscation of Church Lands (1790): The Declaration’s emphasis on national sovereignty justified the confiscation of Church lands, undermining the economic power of the clergy.
• Administrative Reforms: The Declaration led to the restructuring of the French administration, replacing the old provincial divisions with departments based on rational principles, further eroding the power of the aristocracy.

Intellectual Origins: A Look into the Past

While revolutionary in its impact, the Declaration’s intellectual roots lay firmly in the past. It wasn’t a spontaneous creation but rather a culmination of centuries of philosophical and legal thought.

• Natural Rights Tradition: The Declaration drew heavily from the natural rights philosophy of thinkers like John Locke (Two Treatises of Government, 1689), who argued that individuals possess inherent rights to life, liberty, and property. These ideas were popularized in France through Enlightenment salons and publications.
• Montesquieu and Separation of Powers: Baron de Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws (1748), advocating for the separation of powers, influenced the Declaration’s emphasis on limited government and the rule of law.
• Rousseau and Popular Sovereignty: Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s concept of the ‘general will’ and popular sovereignty, articulated in The Social Contract (1762), provided the philosophical basis for the Declaration’s assertion that sovereignty resides in the nation.
• Roman Law and Customary Law: The Declaration also incorporated elements of Roman law and French customary law, particularly the concept of natural law and the protection of individual rights. The idea of *habeas corpus*, protecting against arbitrary arrest, had roots in English common law and was reflected in the Declaration.

Limitations and a Retrospective View

Despite its progressive ideals, the Declaration had limitations that reveal its connection to the past.

• Exclusion of Women: The Declaration explicitly referred to ‘men’ and their rights, excluding women from full political participation. This reflected the prevailing patriarchal norms of the time. Olympe de Gouges’s “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen” (1791) was a direct response to this exclusion.
• Slavery: The Declaration did not address the issue of slavery in French colonies, demonstrating a contradiction between its universal principles and the economic realities of the time.
• Property Rights: The emphasis on property rights, while influenced by Locke, also served to protect the interests of the propertied classes, potentially at the expense of the poor.
• The Reign of Terror: The subsequent Reign of Terror (1793-1794) demonstrated that the Declaration’s principles could be easily subverted in the name of revolutionary zeal, highlighting the fragility of rights in times of political upheaval.

Furthermore, the Declaration’s focus on individual rights, while groundbreaking, lacked the emphasis on social and economic rights that would become prominent in later declarations and constitutions. It was a product of its time, reflecting the concerns and priorities of the Enlightenment bourgeoisie rather than a fully realized vision of social justice.