Not many political documents have affected the world like The American Declaration of Independence and The French Declaration of The Rights of Man. Both documents, till this point, have had a huge impact all over the world. Without them, the world wouldn’t be what it is today. The philosophical ideas of Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Locke were greatly inspirational on both documents. They were later used by Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence, and the National Assembly, in the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Both documents can be compared in many ways.
Baron de Montesquieu, a political thinker who lived during the Age of Enlightenment, had the concept of Separation of Powers. This was implemented in many constitutions throughout the world and was used in both of the mentioned documents. This theory was used to avoid tyranny and to promote liberty and justice as expressed in both documents. It was set forth to prevent one branch of government from gaining too much power over the other two branches. It basically believes in the right of a man to own private property, which is a function of individual liberty.
Another political thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau influenced with his theory of a social contract. The social contract was fundamentally an agreement, entered into by individuals, which resulted in the development of the state or of organized society. The prime purpose was the aspiration for protection, which entails the surrender of some or all personal liberties. An example of this concept was materialized in the Declaration of Independence which asserts that "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…" Not only did his concept of Social Contract influence both