Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen is a fundamental document of the French Revolution.

The declaration was written by Abbé Sieyès and the Marquis de Lafayette.  Abbé Sieyès was a prominent clergyman in France who supported the rights of the common people.  The Marquis de Lafayette was a member of the nobility who had fought in America's war for independence against Britain. Their document was written in consultation with Thomas Jefferson of the United States, who had drafted the Declaration of Independence for the American colonies in their break from Great Britain.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was approved by the National Assembly of France on August 26, 1789, in the early months of the French Revolution.  King  Louis XVI approved the text on October 5, 1789, pushed much to do so by the Marquis de Lafayette, and with little choice at that time but to go along with changes that were happening due to the Revolution.