A Vindication of the Rights of Men is a political pamphlet written by Mary Wollstonecraft. It was published in 1790 and was written in response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. In this text, Wollstonecraft criticizes Burke's conservative arguments and rhetoric and advocates her republican ideology.
During the late 18th Century, political pamphlets were very popular and were used as a form of communication between political thinkers. This time in history was marked by political instability due to the French Revolution, which inspired thinkers to discuss the nature of rebellion and reform, leading to the pamphlet war that is referred to as the Revolution Controversy. Wollstonecraft and Burke were both key thinkers, and their pamphlets were both widely read and followed. A Vindication on the Rights of Men was sold out quickly, and praised by critics and periodicals. Later, this text has also been considered a feminist text, as well as a political one.
Mary Wollstonecraft was born in 1759 and is now known as an early feminist writer and philosopher. She is best known for her feminist text A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published in 1792, but also wrote a number of acclaimed political pamphlets and texts. Her unorthodox lifestyle often overshadowed her writing, but with the emergence of the feminist movement in the 20th Century, her work has been uncovered and celebrated as exemplary feminist literature.
