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Rights of Man, The
Rights of Man, The, a political treatise by T. Paine in two parts (1791, 1792).
Pt I is in the main a reply to Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. Paine accuses Burke of seeking theatrical effects at the expense of truth, and of disorderly arguments. He denies that one generation can bind another as regards the form of government. He traces the incidents of the French Revolution up to the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man by the National Assembly. He alleges that Burke cares only for the forms of chivalry, and not for the nation. ‘He pities the plumage, and forgets the dying bird.’ In Pt II Paine passes to a comparison of the new French and American constitutions with those of British institutions, to the disadvantage of the latter. The work also contains Paine's farsighted proposals for reform of taxation, family allowances, maternity grants, etc. |
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Rights of Man, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Rights of Man, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-RightsofManThe.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Rights of Man, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-RightsofManThe.html |
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Rights of Man, The
Rights of Man, The (Part I 1791; Part II 1792). Thomas Paine's defence of the principles of the French Revolution against the attack launched by Edmund Burke in his Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). Part I traced the origins of the Revolution and explicated the Declaration of the Rights of Man made by the National Assembly. Part II denounced the hereditary system, prophesied the immediate overthrow of the monarchy, argued that the only defensible form of government was representative democracy, and sketched the outlines of a system of state welfare. For these views Paine was indicted for treason by the British government, and hurriedly left England for France to take up his seat in the National Convention as the elected member for the département of Calais.
Tim S. Gray |
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Rights of Man, The." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Rights of Man, The." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-RightsofManThe.html JOHN CANNON. "Rights of Man, The." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-RightsofManThe.html |
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Rights of Man, The
Rights of Man, The (Part I 1791; Part II 1792). Thomas Paine's defence of the French Revolution against the attack launched by Edmund Burke in his Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). Part I traced the origins of the Revolution and explicated the Declaration of the Rights of Man made by the National Assembly. Part II denounced the hereditary system, prophesied the immediate overthrow of the monarchy, argued that the only defensible form of government was representative democracy, and sketched the outlines of a system of state welfare.
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Rights of Man, The." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Rights of Man, The." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-RightsofManThe.html JOHN CANNON. "Rights of Man, The." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-RightsofManThe.html |
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