This same conviction ignited the passions of republican revolutionaries across the Atlantic. On July 14, 1789, French insurgents stormed the Bastille, a medieval fortress and prison in Paris that represented the power and injustices of the A month later, Ancien Régime. the French National Assembly, having abolished feudal prerogatives, approved The The document, a draft of which Thomas Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Jefferson, then in Paris, helped the Marquis de Lafayette write, was grounded in natural law and natural rights. The declaration enumerates a set of and sacred “natural, unalienable, that of the natural rights of each man has no limits except rights.” Article 4 states “the exercise those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same The rights.” was the most radical and revolutionary manifesto produced to Declaration of the Rights of Man date that was grounded on the tradition of natural law. Defending the French Revolution from the attacks of conservative theorist Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine reaffirmed the inalienable and natural of every man. Paine “equal right” states that right has for its foundation some natural right pre-existing in the “Every civil individual, but to the enjoyment of which his individual power is not, in all cases, sufficiently (Paine 2003, 169). For Paine, government and its (positive) laws are instituted and competent” can only be justified as a means to secure natural rights. The failure of government to safeguard natural rights legitimates revolution. In the 19th century, American and French declarations of natural rights were appropriated to fight slavery. William Lloyd Garrison wrote there is a human “Wherever being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion” (Garrison 1894, 390). Garrison founded the American Anti-Slavery Society, and published the Boston-based newspaper Here Garrison called for the immediate and complete The Liberator.
This same conviction ignited the passions of republican revolutionaries across the Atlantic. On July 14, 1789, French insurgents stormed the Bastille, a medieval fortress and prison in Paris that represented the power and injustices of the Ancien Régime. A month later, the French National Assembly, having abolished feudal prerogatives, approved The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The document, a draft of which Thomas Jefferson, then in Paris, helped the Marquis de Lafayette write, was grounded in natural law and natural rights. The declaration enumerates a set of “natural, unalienable, and sacred rights.” Article 4 states that “the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights.” The Declaration of the Rights of Man was the most radical and revolutionary manifesto produced to date that was grounded on the tradition of natural law. Defending the French Revolution from the attacks of conservative theorist Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine reaffirmed the inalienable and “equal natural right” of every man. Paine states that “Every civil right has for its foundation some natural right pre-existing in the individual, but to the enjoyment of which his individual power is not, in all cases, sufficiently competent” (Paine 2003, 169). For Paine, government and its (positive) laws are instituted and can only be justified as a means to secure natural rights. The failure of government to safeguard natural rights legitimates revolution. In the 19th century, American and French declarations of natural rights were appropriated to fight slavery. William Lloyd Garrison wrote “Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion” (Garrison 1894, 390). Garrison founded the American Anti-Slavery Society, and published the Boston-based newspaper The Liberator. Here Garrison called for the immediate and complete
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