Good Example Of Essay On Declaration Of Independence With French Declaration Of The Rights Of Man And Citizen

There are few official documents that had produced such a serious influence on the contemporary democratic society development as the American Declaration of Independence and French Declaration of Rights of a Man and Citizen. Both these declarations have their reflection in the great number of contemporary documents that support the main human values, as well as the fundamental right and freedoms if every human being. The reason of such a great meaning lies in the backgrounds that lie behind them.
The main connection between these two documents can be seen in the theories proposed by Rousseau and Montesquieu and have been later implemented by Jefferson in his works and reflection to the National Assembly and therefore the main ideas were used as the basis s for both of them. Special attention has to be paid to the Rousseau’s’ definition of social contract. It has declared the sovereignty of all people and their will. In case the monarch tries to abuse this sovereignty and to violate their liberties, people have right to oppose such a ruler and to dispose the government in order to create a new one. This idea has been a creature if its time as the king has been extremely authoritative and the totalitarian rule that developing in France required the proper reaction of the intelligent people that considered it to be destructive and inhumane.
These ideas of Rousseau were in mind of Thomas Jefferson when he has been working on the Declaration of Independence. The rule of King George III was the period of constant usurpations that took place in the states and therefore every act of the ruler could be defined as an act of tyranny that was harming the basic rights of people in the colonies. That also increased the desire for freedom and liberty.
The idea of people’s general will and tis high value has also been one of the basic concepts within the French Declaration that was reflecting mot only the interest of the individual, but the common interest of the society. Rousseau discussed the arbitrary laws that were the main indicator of tyranny for the people that displaced their king and wanted to create a new system that will be supporting their liberties. The development of arbitrary laws was considered as inadmissible. Such laws have been developing under the rule of King Louis XVI that therefore was defined as a totalitarian regime of the tyrant that has to be dissolved.
This attitude to arbitrary was has been fixed in both declarations because both countries have been seriously harmed by their distribution. Moreover the Declaration of Independence has proclaimed the Locke’s ideas of natural rights for life, freedom and property. In the beginning of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson has used the direct formulation: “life, liberty and pursuit for happiness”. To support the importance of this idea, Jefferson addressed to the suspension of rights proposed by George III that included the right for taxation without the asking for the permission of the colonists, the right for the trial by jury and many other essential liberties. The same refers to the French society that required freedom to peaceful assembling, for the fair jury, decreased taxes and other.
Together with all the similarities of these two documents, it is important to underlie something that makes them different. While the Aim of the French Declaration was to proclaim the importance of human rights and freedoms to change the ruling system and be able to control the governor, the creator of Declaration of Independence have gone much further in their ideas, they required not simply to change the regime, but to separate from the colonist rule and to be able to organize their life themselves. The accident has made not only on social right and the right of the individual, but also on the importance of creation the unique system that will be free from all the weaknesses of tyranny. While French revolutionist required the new governor, American people dreamed about the new state that was a serious step for tall the contemporary democratic world and therefore the high value of both documents cannot be forgotten.