Declarations as Historical Evidence

Revolutions produced remarkable documents: the English Declaration of Rights of 1689, the American Declaration of Independence of 1776, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, and Haiti's Act of Independence of 1804. Historians treat these as evidence, not just as statements of ideals. A declaration reveals what its authors wanted an audience to believe, so the questions are who wrote it, for whom, and for what purpose.

The American Declaration was aimed partly at foreign powers such as France, whose help the colonies needed. The French Declaration was written in universal terms, yet its authors disagreed about whether it applied to women, the poor or enslaved people in the colonies. Comparing what a document claims with what its authors then did is one of the most revealing exercises in revolutionary history.