Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
Editor’s Note: This convention, a binding treaty endorsed by 176 nations (referred to in this document as “state parties”), was adopted by the UN General Assembly on the 30th anniversary of 1959 UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Convention on the Rights of the Child U.N. General Assembly (12 December 1989) with AnnexThe General […]
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia, 1965)
Editor’s Note: Not all Declarations of Independence are created equal. Some lead to the enfranchisement of the great majority of a society, and others only advance the interests of a relatively small number within a populace. Even our vaunted July 4, 1776 declaration, while overwhelmingly supported by white Americans (especially white male Americans), could be […]
Declaration of Czecho-Slovak Independence (1918)
Editor’s Note: On October 18, 1918, from their base in Paris, the Czecho-Slovak Provisional Government issued a declaration of independence. The declaration came out after the historic ‘Pittsburgh Agreement,’ in which key Czech and Slovak expatriates, who convened shortly after World War I, and in the face of the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, agreed […]
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man – 1948
Editor’s Note: Adopted in April 1948 at the International Conference of American States in Bogota, Colombia, this document represents the first attempt on the world stage — coming out eight months before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations — to set forth and enumerate the rights, and duties, of each […]
Inter-American Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1995)
Editor’s Note: Iin 1989, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was asked by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) to compose a declaration of rights of “indigenous populations.” This declaration was intended to have legal standing. In February 1997, this draft declaration was endorsed by the Commission. Our understanding is that it has […]
Palestinian Declaration of Independence (1988)
Editor’s note: Composed by poet Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian Declaration of Independence was approved at an Algiers gathering of the Palestinian National Council on November 15, 1988. The declaration calls for an independent State of Palestine, which is described in the document as “the state of Palestinians wherever they may be.” Declaration of Independence (1988) (UN Doc) […]
Declaration of Workers’ and Farmers’ Rights and Purposes – 1933
Editor’s Note: With our July 4, 1776 Declaration as its model, the Declaration of Workers’ and Farmers’ Rights and Purposes was the fruit of the inaugural convention of the National Unemployed Leagues, organized in Columbus, Ohio, by Dutch-born clergyman and political activist A.J. Muste, who spearheaded the Conference on Progressive Labor Action, and sparked as […]
Constitution of the United States of the World (includes a series of declarations), 1870
Editor’s Note: Though unsung today, Victoria Woodhull (1838 – 1937) was at the vanguard of the women’s rights movement, which she connected with the labor rights movement. Not only that, she was the first-ever woman to be nominated by her party — the Equal Rights Party — to be its candidate for President of the United States. […]
Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945)
Editor’s Note: Ho Chi Minh’s September 2, 1945 declaration, proclaimed an independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The opening passage by Paris-educated Ho Chi Minh, founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party, was a verbatim recitation of our July 4, 1776. The declaration was written in the aftermath of Japan’s defeat in World War II and France’s attempt to reclaim […]
A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996)
Editor’s Note: This declaration was crafted by John Perry Barlow, a founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an international nonprofit that focuses on fair use of digital rights. It was issued as a paper, and was widely released online on February 8, 1996. In many respects the declaration is a response to (and against) the U.S. Telecommunications […]
