Page 13 - Understanding NCERT Histroy 09th

Source F (Page no. 20)
Some of the basic rights set forth in Olympe de Gouges’ Declaration.
1. Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights.
Goyal Brothers Prakashan
2. The goal of all political associations is the preservation of the natural rights of woman and
man: These rights are liberty, property, security, and above all resistance to oppression.
3. The source of all sovereignty resides in the nation, which is nothing but the union of
woman and man.
4. The law should be the expression of the general will; all female and male citizens should
have a say either personally or by their representatives in its formulation; it should be
the same for all. All female and male citizens are equally entitled to all honours and
public employment according to their abilities and without any other distinction than that
of their talents.
5. No woman is an exception; she is accused, arrested, and detained in cases determined
by law. Women, like men, obey this rigorous law.

Source G (Page no. 20)
In 1793, the Jacobin politician Chaumette sought to justify the closure of women’s clubs on
the following grounds:
‘Has Nature entrusted domestic duties to men? Has she given us breasts to nurture babies?
No.
She said to Man:
Be a man. Hunting, agriculture, political duties … that is your kingdom.
She said to Woman:
Be a woman … the things of the household, the sweet duties of motherhood – those are your
tasks.
Shameless are those women, who wish to become men. Have not duties been fairly distributed?’

Activity (Page no. 20)

Q. Imagine yourself to be one of the women in Fig. 13. Formulate a response to the
arguments put forward by Chaumette (Source G).
Ans. The arguments given by Chaumette are not justifiable. He has mentioned only the biological
role of women. As individuals, women have equal rights to men and so they must be
treated equal to men. They would, of course, continue their traditional roles like bearing
and nurturing children, feeding them, etc, but women are equally capable as men to carry
out the other duties of human beings also.

5. THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
l The Abolition of Slavery was the most revolutionary social reform done by the Jacobins
in the French Colonies.
l In the seventeenth century, the slave trade began.
l Slaves were bought from the local chieftains, branded and shackled and packed tightly
into ships for the three-month-long voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.
l Slave labour met the growing demand in European markets for sugar, coffee, and indigo.
Throughout the eighteenth century, there was little criticism on slavery in France.
l In 1794, the Convention legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas possessions.

History Class IX H-11