By Andrea Lamarche
On April 16, Associate Professor of History Katie Jarvis (University of Notre Dame) delivered a compelling talk to a full room on the dialogue between the American and French founding declarations. She opened by highlighting a striking difference: the U.S. Founding Fathers are named as such because they individually signed the Declaration, whereas the French Declaration contains no individual names.
Jarvis characterized the American Declaration as a founding document, one that justifies independence by outlining the injuries suffered under British rule and asserting the creation of a new political entity. In contrast, France already existed as a territorial state before the Revolution; its Declaration was therefore foundational, aimed at redefining sovereignty and establishing guiding principles for governance. Transatlantic exchanges played a key role in shaping both documents. The American Declaration circulated in France prior to the Revolution, while figures such as La Rochefoucauld and Lafayette contributed to its development. As a result, both texts share a language of natural rights, emphasizing equality at birth or creation.
Jarvis explained that the French emphasis on social rights reflects a society structured by entrenched hierarchies, unlike the American context. The two documents also diverge in their afterlives: the U.S. Declaration remains an enduring founding text, while the French Declaration, embedded within constitutional frameworks, has been revised over time. This distinction between founding and foundational reappeared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after World War II, led by René Cassin and shaped by French intellectual traditions.
The discussion that followed, with Professor Emma Kuby and audience members, explored themes such as the exclusion of women and enslaved people, the gendered definition of citizenship in early French revisions, and broader connections to colonialism and perceptions of equality across the Atlantic.
We thank Professor Katie Jarvis for her insightful presentation. This event was co-sponsored by the Center for European Studies, the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy, and the Center for Interdisciplinary French Studies (CIFS).