Prior to the revolution in 1789, France had been an absolute monarchy, structured by feudal privileges and rigid social classes. The Old Regime of France underwent radical changes during the French Revolution. Changes resulting from the revolution, which were rooted in the enlightenment principles of republicanism, citizenships, and individual rights, were accompanied by warfare, violence and turmoil
John Locke was one of the most well known enlightenment philosophes in 18th century France. In Second Treatise on Government, Locke argued that people have a right to revolt against a government if that government ceases to work in their best interest (doc. 1). This type of thinking was prominent in the minds of France's Third Estate on the eve
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However, it decided that before doing so, it should publish a statement of broad political principles. Based on the natural rights of man, these principles would act as guidelines for the new constitutional government. On August 27, the Assembly issued the DEclaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen. This declaration drew on the political language of the Enlightenment, exhibiting the democratic ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau as well as the liberal views of Thomas Jefferson, who help create America’s Declaration of Independence (doc. 5).The French declaration proclaimed that all men were “born and remain free and equal in rights.” The natural rights were declared as “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” Governments ultimately existed to protect those rights. Jefferson, whose thoughts corresponded with the classic liberalism of the Enlightenment, believed that government could only step in if harm is being done to another. On the other hand, principles of the Enlightenment thinker Rousseau, which can almost be described as proto-socialist, are also evident in this document. “The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation…” This quote from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens draws from …show more content…
The recently established constitutional monarchy no longer had a reigning monarch. The new National Convention soon after came into power. The Convention was far more radical than the Assembly; in its first meeting, the Convention declared France a republic. Not long after, it executed Louis XVI, demonstrating its removal from monarchical government as well as its drive to protect the liberty of the people and the security of the state. The Reign of Terror began In March of 1793, when the dictatorial Committee of Public Safety began executing so-called 'traitors', or anyone who disagreed with the new regime. The Convention believed they had created a “republic of virtue,” which was largely founded on ideas from Rousseau’s Social Contract. Civic virtue, the sacrifice of oneself for the good of a republic, was to replace selfish aristocratic and royal corruption. It was in the name of common good that the Committee of Public Safety carried out the policies of the terror. These policies became increasingly violent and cruel as the revolution went on. The guillotine became a popular way to quiet those who didn’t agree with the new regime (doc. 9). Maximilien Robespierre embodied this republic of virtue defended by terror. Robespierre believed that the republic of virtue meant wholehearted support of the republican government and the protection of the state
Natural Rights (Locke) appear in the declaration of Independence as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Jean Rousseau developed the idea of the social contract and the notion of replacing a government that fails to maintain consent is cited as justification for the American Revolution against the English.
One of the most important documents to emerge from the French Revolution was the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” written by the Marquis de Lafayette in 1789. This document was based on the United States Constitution, which had just been drafted and stood as a model for the French republic. There are many similarities between these two documents, but there are also ways in which they are distinct. Break up into groups of four or five. At the library or using the Internet, locate these two documents.
During the reign of King Louis XVI, France was going through severe economic crisis. France was in debt from war and helping America in the American Revolution, and poor harvests inflated the prices of bread, causing poor people to starve. Most importantly, the unfair tax system forced the lower class to pay all of the taxes. On June 20, 1789, powerful men from the third estate walked out of a meeting with the Estates General and vowed to create a new constitution (BE). Many people, like the nobility, Catholic Church, conservative, and foreign monarchs, disliked the reforms. To deal with the opposition, the French Revolution made a radical turn under the control of Maximillian Robespierre. Robespierre was the chief prosecutor who got Louis
The French Revolution was a series of struggles regarding economic and social issues under rule of Louis XVI in 18th century. As a result of the Revolution, there was a shift towards radical changes apropos to the desire for a new historical beginning in revolutionary France. The adoption of the new calendar was created to in hopes to introduce these new republican values, bring about new ideas of de-Christianization, and to celebrate a new marking in French history. This progressive era was a time of radical change in France, where the traditional values and practices were slowly being abolished, which caused many contrary reactions to break out within the people.
On September 5, 1793, the National Convention of France declared terror “the order of the day,” which essentially meant that the government would take any and all necessary measures to maintain a sense of peace and stability. Strict laws and policies were imposed to ensure that the nation would continue to evolve and change. This day marked the beginning of the infamous Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror was a period of turmoil in France following the onset of the French Revolution in 1789. Extreme violence and unwarranted brutality became standard during this decade. The head of the revolution and primary leader of the Committee of Public Safety was a French politician named Maximilien Robespierre.
In analysis of the our country’s fight for independence, historians and many others have looked deeper into what the war really was about and how “revolutionary” it would be identified as. The topic itself has been brought down to two broadened opinions delving into whether the war was conservative or radical. After taking on ten primary documents that could help to solidify one answer, it has been recognized that the Revolution was less revolutionary than originally suspected. Parts of these documents have influenced the analysis, such as Document #2, #9, and #10. These documents help show a more conservative perspective on how our country received its independence. More becomes clear about the way the Revolution negatively affected other groups of people excluding the rich, white men that made up the majority of our founding
Introduction The intense scent of fear lingered in the air. The sharp edges of the terror that hung over Paris were always watching, always warning. The gray sky hovered over the crowd gathered around the towering fear as a green carriage entered the yellowed meadow, and stopped in a large, empty space surrounded by canons. After a few moments, several men stepped out of the coach.
“No taxation without representation!” That is what every colonist in the Thirteen Colonies shouted before the revolution started. Or that was what most people thought. Not all colonists wanted to gain independence like people today thought they did. In the mid 1700s, the colonists decided to go to war with the British to gain their independence. This was called the American Revolution. However, not all colonists agreed to do this. About ten percent of the colonists were loyal to the King. They were called Loyalists. About forty percent wanted to declare independence from the British. They were called Patriots. The other fifty percent didn’t care one way or another and were neutral. This created a lot of tension due to the diverse point of views.
Other than Louis's own fault other political factors were also responsible. In the 18th century, known as the Age of the Enlightenment, some philosophers spoke of the new ideas of how the government should rule the country. Philosophers such as John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau, their ideas influenced the people in France during that time. John Locke's main theory stated that the government should provide protective services to its citizens, mainly on life, liverty and property. The only reason why the government had the power was because the people entrusted their rights to the
The radical turning point of the revolution, marked by the Reign of Terror, was an atmosphere of mass executions and imposed paranoia, with more than ten thousand “counterrevolutionaries” (vaguely defined, which at the end turned out to be anyone with dissent) sent to death under the Law of Suspects. Robespierre himself states that “Terror is nothing but prompt, severe, inflexible justice; it is therefore an emanation of virtue… The government of the revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny”. “Severe and inflexible”, as justified by Robespierre, the revolution needed a push in order to reach its goals. France under the committee's total control sent anyone with dissent to the guillotine because they were considered to be a threat to the new government, which ironically named itself “for the people”. An anonymous eyewitness during the reign commented on the Reign of Terror collection of authentic narratives that “It seemed as if their blind fury was particularly directed against the weakest and most amiable.The loveliest, the youngest, and the most interesting females, were dragged in crowds into this receptacle of misery, whence they were led, by dozens, to inundate the scaffold” (325). The sickening extent of human toll
In September of 1793 Robespierre declares the beginning of the Reign of Terror. During this time many innocent people were beheaded for speaking out against the government. The Committee of Public Safety did not have sufficient reason to restrict the rights of the french people and kill them. The increasing pressure from the outside and inside threats did not justify the cruel treatment of the French people who were punished for speaking out, this only caused them to rebel against the government. The committee of public safety used intimidation to control the people instead of using fair laws and regulations. They disregarded the French constitution that the National assembly had previously made. All of this eventually led up to the unhappiness and civil unrest that they had previously wanted
Maximilian Robespierre, a member of the Committee of Public Safety, captured the vision of the Terror in “On Political Morality,” a speech to the Convention in 1794. He said that the purpose of the Terror was to find, “[t]he peaceful enjoyment of liberty and equality; the reign of that eternal justice whose laws have been inscribed, not in marble and stone, but in the hearts of all men, even in that of the slave who forgets them and in that of the tyrant who denies them.” However, Robespierre believed that finding such “peaceful enjoyment of liberty and equality” could only come from eliminating France’s internal enemies. The choice was either to “smother the internal and external enemies of the Republic or perish,” as he later said.
The Reign of Terror began in 1793 after the death of Louis XVI. Nine months after his execution, his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette was the first person to face the guillotine. The Reign was meant to fight those who opposed the revolution and also to stop any counter-revolution. Considered education the public would sit and watch the executions by guillotine. Of the people who were rounded up for execution were ordinary people who were considered informers or anyone who was heard to have said critical statements about the revolutionary government. There were no longer the Declaration of the Rights of Man, terror was instead in its place. Maximilien Robespierre said these words “Softness to traitors will destroy us all.” Robespierre was the man behind and fueling the Reign of Terror. At the time he was the
France’s, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, played an integral role in the development of democracy and the pursuit of liberty throughout Europe. This document was written and introduced by General Lafayette as a result of the French Revolution. The French Constituent Assembly passed it in August of 1789. Influenced by Thomas Jefferson, the American Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, and the ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers, the document reiterates the values of the French Revolution. Declaring that the rights of man should be universal and remain valid no matter the time or place. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was a very purposeful document expressing many of the ideas of the French Revolution and the Declaration of Independence.
In France in 1789, A revolution began. The people of France were fighting for their inalienable rights such as freedom from serfdom , equality between the classes. Within this chaos in France, Napoleon, a new thinker, came about and changed France in many ways. Napoleon's policies can be seen as preserving the legacy of the French Revolution by giving equality to the lower classes and creating a governmental system that helped to put the people in charge of their sovereignty, however it can be seen as hurting the legacy by protecting the ideas of absolutism.