Both the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen speak of "unalienable rights" of human beings -- natural rights that cannot be taken away from them. Both declarations drew upon the views of Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke.
The Declaration of Independence (1776), written by Thomas Jefferson for the American colonists, contained these famous words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,"
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (France, 1789) opened with these words: "The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties."
Both the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen got their ideas about natural rights from philosophers of the Enlightenment, such as John Locke (1632-1704). Locke strongly argued that all human beings have certain natural rights which are to be protected and preserved. Locke's ideal was one that promoted individual freedom and equal rights and opportunity for all. Each individual's well-being (life, health, liberty, possessions) should be served by the way government and society are arranged. The American founding fathers and the French Revolution's leaders accepted the views of Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers and acted on them.
