Article 4 Limits of Individual Liberty
Article 4 defines liberty through freedom of action bounded by the equal rights of others and limits established by law.
Permanent historical records · Updated 2026-11-03
1789 in France — Page 11
Explore 704 historical events and records for France in 1789.
Historical records for France in 1789
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August
Article 5 Law Restricts Only Harmful Actions
Article 5 limits legal prohibitions to actions harmful to society and rejects compulsion unsupported by law.
Article 6 Law as Expression of General Will
Article 6 describes law as the expression of the general will and affirms equal access to public office according to capacity.
Article 7 Protection from Arbitrary Arrest
Article 7 rejects accusation, arrest or detention except in cases and forms established by law.
Article 8 Necessary and Prior Penalties
Article 8 requires penalties to be strictly necessary and based on a law established before the offence.
Article 9 Presumption of Innocence
Article 9 establishes the presumption of innocence and condemns unnecessary harshness during arrest.
Article by Article Rights Voting Completed
The Assembly completes the article-by-article voting that produces the seventeen-article declaration.
Declaration Establishes Rights before Constitutional Structure
The Assembly completes the declaration before finishing the detailed constitutional institutions that will govern the new political order.
Declaration Places Sovereignty beyond Royal Authority
The adopted declaration makes national sovereignty a constitutional principle and denies independent authority to any individual or corporate body.
Declaration Preamble Defines Natural Sacred Rights
The preamble describes the declaration as a statement of natural, inalienable and sacred rights intended to guide government and citizens.
Lafayette's draft precedes adopted rights text
Lafayette's earlier proposal helped shape the broad discussion that produced the seventeen-article declaration. The declaration of rights completed made Versailles a focal point in the struggle over royal and representative authority.
Mirabeau participates in rights deliberations
Mirabeau was among the prominent speakers as deputies settled principles of liberty and legal equality. This development concerning declaration of rights completed exposed the limits of the old regime's political arrangements.
Mounier weighs declaration against government design
Mounier's constitutional concerns reflected debate over how abstract rights should relate to concrete institutions. The consequences of declaration of rights completed reached well beyond the palace and its neighbouring legislative chambers.
Religious Liberty Qualified by Public Order
The final declaration protects religious opinions but makes their public exercise subject to legally defined public order.
Rights Declaration approved: Civil equality proclaimed
Grégoire belonged to an Assembly affirming equality before the law through a universal statement of rights. The declaration did not by itself eliminate all exclusions from political participation.
Rights Declaration approved: National sovereignty in rights doctrine
Sieyes promoted constitutional reasoning in which public authority originated from the nation. The final declaration articulated that principle against the foundations of absolute monarchy.
Rights Declaration approved: Rights statement in constitutional design
Mirabeau participated in debates leading to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The text placed liberty and legal equality at the center of future government.
August decrees celebrated in Paris
Parisian celebrations greeted news that the National Assembly had renounced inherited privileges. Mayor Bailly represented municipal authority while citizens interpreted the reforms as an historic political victory.
Barere Press Freedom Advocacy during Rights Debate
Barere supports freedom of the press during the constitutional debates that precede adoption of the Declaration of Rights.
Citizen Guard Patrols Protect Public Buildings
National Guard detachments secured politically sensitive buildings in the unsettled months following the Bastille. Their presence gave the new municipality a means of enforcing decisions without royal troops.
Committee Declaration Synthesis Contested
Deputies strongly contest the committee's proposed synthesis, forcing the Assembly to seek another drafting basis.
Demeunier Joins Rights Draft Committee
Demeunier is appointed to the five-deputy committee charged with combining the competing declarations of rights.
Draft Declaration of Rights
Sieyes submitted a project for a declaration of rights during the Assembly's constitutional debates.
Five-Deputy Rights Committee Established
The Assembly appoints a five-member committee to compare the submitted declaration projects and prepare a common text.
La Luzerne Joins Rights Draft Committee
La Luzerne joins the committee assigned to examine and consolidate the proposed declarations.
Mirabeau Presents Committee Rights Synthesis
Mirabeau presents the committee's synthesis of the submitted rights projects to the Assembly.
Municipality Coordinates Guard Food Escorts
The city government relied on armed escorts when food insecurity threatened public order. Guard service helped protect provisioning operations while exposing soldiers to popular anger about bread.
Press Freedom Advocacy
Barere supported freedom of the press during early constitutional debates in the National Assembly.
Property rights remain central to legal settlement
Sieyes and fellow constitutional thinkers grappled with how to abolish privilege without violating legitimate property. The distinction shaped controversies about compensating holders of feudal rights.
Redon Joins Rights Draft Committee
Redon joins the five-member committee established to produce a unified declaration draft.
Rights of Man debate reported to readers
Brissot's newspaper discussed the declaration of rights and the implications of legal equality. He presented revolutionary principles as the basis for further public debate.
Tronchet Joins Rights Draft Committee
Tronchet is appointed to the committee reviewing the legal wording of the various rights projects.
September
Bailly faces tension between sections and mayoralty
Activists in Parisian districts claimed the right to participate directly in local decisions. Bailly's administration faced a continuing conflict between such neighbourhood activism and centralized municipal authority.
Barnave supports constitutional compromise
Barnave participated in debates balancing legislative power against a continuing royal executive. The consequences of deputies choose suspensive royal veto reached well beyond the palace and its neighbouring legislative chambers.
King denied unconditional legislative veto
The Assembly preferred a suspensive veto rather than preserving the monarch's unrestricted capacity to stop laws. The deputies choose suspensive royal veto made Versailles a focal point in the struggle over royal and representative authority.
Mounier loses stronger executive safeguards
Mounier advocated arrangements that would more substantially check a single legislative chamber. This development concerning deputies choose suspensive royal veto exposed the limits of the old regime's political arrangements.
Suspensive Veto Settlement
The Constituent Assembly granted Louis XVI only a suspensive veto, limiting the king's ability to block ordinary legislation.
Constitution of France
Made suspensive by a vote of the National Assembly carried by 673 votes to 352
Constitution of France
Made suspensive by a vote of the National Assembly carried by 673 votes to 352.
National Assembly
Made suspensive by a vote of the National Assembly carried by 673 votes to 352
How these records were prepared
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