The Declaration of Independence made by the thirteen newly
sovereign American states in 1776 recognizes “that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These rights are
not dependent on any government, and thus exist equally so in the state of
nature. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, made in Europe
thirteen years later, omits any mention of a creator-deity. “Men are born and
remain free and equal in rights.” The equality here is more limited, being
solely in terms of rights, “man’s natural and imprescriptible rights” in
particular. These “are liberty, property, security, and resistance to
oppression.” We can thus compare and contrast the two sets of rights, which
important implications for public policy for both America and Europe.
The entire essay is at “Natural
Rights in Europe and America”
