Declaration of The Rights of Woman and The Female Citizen - Historical Context

Historical Context

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted in 1789

by the National Constituent Assembly (Assemblée nationale constituante), during the height of the French Revolution. Prepared and proposed by the marquis de Lafayette, the declaration asserted that all men “are born and remain free and equal in rights” and that these rights were universal. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen became a key human rights document and a classic formulation of the rights of individuals vis-a-vis the state. The Declaration exposed inconsistencies of laws that treated citizens differently on the basis of sex, race, class or religion. In 1791 new articles were added to the French constitution which extended civil and political rights to Protestants and Jews, who had previously been persecuted in France.

In 1790 Nicolas de Condorcet and Etta Palm d'Aelders unsuccessfully called on the National Assembly to extend civil and political rights to women. Condorcet declared that “and he who votes against the right of another, whatever the religion, color, or sex of that other, has henceforth adjured his own”. The French Revolution did not lead to a recognition of women’s rights and this prompted de Gouges to publish the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen in early 1791.

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