The Declaration of the Rights of Man and citizen, a statement written in August of 1789, appeared to be a stepping stone for the men of the third estate who felt that they did not possess the same rights as those of the first and second estates. The Sans Culottes were a minority among the third estate, but they exhibited a huge amount of influence in the French Revolution. Inspired by the American Declaration of Independence, this French document written by the National Assembly of France contained many eighteenth-century enlightenment ideas such as civic equality and popular sovereignty. However, the representatives of the third estate in the National Assembly were mainly Bourgeoisie, but they did share some of the same opinions as the Sans
