Claim: The French Revolution began before 1792.

Not to be confused with Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793 , a second declaration , written in 1793 but never formally adopted .   The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen -LRB- -LSB- Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen , links = no -RSB- -RRB- , passed by France 's National Constituent Assembly in August 1789 , is an important document of the French Revolution and in the history of human and civil rights . The Declaration was directly influenced by Thomas Jefferson , working with General Lafayette , who introduced it . Influenced also by the doctrine of `` natural right '' , the rights of man are held to be universal : valid at all times and in every place , pertaining to human nature itself . It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by the law . It is included in the beginning of the constitutions of both the Fourth French Republic -LRB- 1946 -RRB- and Fifth Republic -LRB- 1958 -RRB- and is still current . Inspired by the Enlightenment philosophers , the Declaration was a core statement of the values of the French Revolution and had a major impact on the development of freedom and democracy in Europe and worldwide .   The Declaration , together with Magna Carta , the English Bill of Rights , and the United States Bill of Rights , inspired in large part the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights .