Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen, adopted August 26, 1789) is an expression of universal human rights—those rights that are true at all times and in all places—that served as one of the foundational documents of the French Revolution. It lists seventeen points including those expressing equality between all men, equality of rights, the relationship of political identity to the state and the source of state power being located in the collective, the preservation of rights such as liberty and property, freedoms of expression provided that those expressions do not impinge on the collective will, and numerous others. The document does not make the claim to the invention of these rights, but rather identifying and giving voice to rights that are naturally an aspect of human existence. This expression of “natural rights” has thus been an important foundation for the further development of human rights movements.
The Déclaration was prepared by Gilbert de Motier (the Marquis de Lafayette, who fought in the American Revolutionary War) in collaboration with American President Thomas Jefferson, and Honoré Gabriel Riqueti (the Comte de Mirabeau). It was thus heavily influenced by documents such as the American Declaration of Independence and American Constitution, and by Enlightenment ideals that explored the political relationship between individuals and the collective as detailed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The role of the state was understood to be the protector of those universal rights.
Sources:
Paul Magnette, Citizenship: The History of an Idea (Essex: ECPR Press, 2005).