<P> Article XVI--Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, nor the separation of powers determined, has no Constitution . </P> <P> Article XVII--Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one can be deprived of private usage, if it is not when the public necessity, legally noted, evidently requires it, and under the condition of a just and prior indemnity . </P> <P> While the French Revolution provided rights to a larger portion of the population, there remained a distinction between those who obtained the political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and those who did not . Those who were deemed to hold these political rights were called active citizens . Active citizenship was granted to men who were French, at least 25 years old, paid taxes equal to three days work, and could not be defined as servants (Thouret). This meant that at the time of the Declaration only male property owners held these rights . The deputies in the National Assembly believed that only those who held tangible interests in the nation could make informed political decisions . This distinction directly affects articles 6, 12, 14, and 15 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen as each of these rights is related to the right to vote and to participate actively in the government . With the decree of 29 October 1789, the term active citizen became embedded in French politics . </P> <P> The concept of passive citizens was created to encompass those populations that had been excluded from political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen . Because of the requirements set down for active citizens, the vote was granted to approximately 4.3 million Frenchmen out of a population of around 29 million . These omitted groups included women, slaves, children, and foreigners . As these measures were voted upon by the General Assembly, they limited the rights of certain groups of citizens while implementing the democratic process of the new French Republic (1792--1804). This legislation, passed in 1789, was amended by the creators of the Constitution of the Year III in order to eliminate the label of active citizen . The power to vote was then, however, to be granted solely to substantial property owners . </P>

Declaration of rights of man and declaration of independence