When the French joined the American colonists in the fight for independence in 1778, defeating Great Britain suddenly didn't seem like such a crazy idea. And if the British colonies could transform themselves into a republic, France could do it, too.

The Marquis de Lafayette, with a little help from Thomas Jefferson, wrote and published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in 1789. The French people were tired of living in extreme poverty while the king and queen lived in complete excess, and they felt they were guaranteed certain rights.

Not unlike similar documents from the time, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen focused on men—that is, only male French citizens got the rights included in the declaration. But it was still a step in the right direction and remains to this day the foundation of the French government.