Question # 1 - The preamble to The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen reads,
“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; in order
that the acts of the legislative power, as well as those of the executive
power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all
political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order
that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and
incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and
redound to the happiness of all.”
