Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans: Whales and Dolphins (2010)
Editor’s Note: This declaration, which spells out what it maintains should be the legal rights under international law of whales and dolphins, is a product of the Helsinki Group, formed, as the website issuing the document says, “out of the ‘Cetacean Rights: Fostering Moral and Legal Change Conference,’ held in Helsinki, Finland in May 2010, […]
Declaration of Food Sovereignty – Sedgewick, Maine (2011)
Editor’s Note: In March 2011, the Maine town of Sedgewick became the first of four municipalities to pass an ordinance that effectively amounted to a declaration of food sovereignty, one that effectively gives them the right to “a local food system” food that’s sustainable, organic, local; that promotes self-reliance; and that provides an alternative to […]
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 […]
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1793
Editor’s Note: An expanded version of the 1789 French declaration, this revised version goes even further than its predecessor — it places greater emphasis on egalitarianism and endows all humans with even greater rights. Though it was never officially enacted, it nonetheless has been highly influential when it comes to advancing notions in the generation sto […]
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1789
Editor’s Note: If there was a declaration to be written in the years soon after the founding of our republic, who better than Thomas Jefferson to have at least have some hand in its composition? As U.S. minister to France, Jefferson at times leant his expertise and insights — in many ways the product of […]
Declaration of the National Anti-Slavery Convention (1833)
Editor’s Note: Written by the abolitionist, journalist and social former William Lloyd Garrison, this declaration of sentiments — published on December 14, 1833 in The Liberator — heralded the birth of the American Anti-Slavery Society, incorporating key passages of our Declaration of July 4, 1776 to advance its arguments. Declaration of the National Anti-Slavery Convention The Convention, assembled […]
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 […]
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Editor’s Note: Adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was crafted in less than two years’ time — an amazing feat, especially given how divided among Eastern and Western factions the world was at the time as it emerged from World War II. Yet uncommon common […]
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 […]
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 […]
