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French Revolution Dbq Essay

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The three main focuses of the French Revolution were liberté, égalité, and fraternité. Napoleon’s action show that he supported liberté and égalité, and therefore Napoleon supported the revolution.
Napoleon supported liberté, a main focus of the revolution. In other words Napoleon supported citizens having personal freedoms. In a speech to his troops before his coup d’etat, Napoleon said “friends, I promise you this conquest; but there is one condition you must swear to fulfill--to respect the people whom you liberate” (Document C). Here, Napoleon explains that when he takes over the government, the people of France will be liberated. Since he says he plans to liberate people, it shows he supported liberté. In a conversation with his doctor on St. Helena, Barry O’meara, Napoleon explained “my imperial government was a kind of republic. I was called the head (leader) of it by the voice of the people” (Document F). In this quote Napoleon points out how his …show more content…

In other words, Napoleon supported all citizens being treated equally. In a document written by Napoleon, he said “new schools are being opened and inspectors have been appointed to see that the instruction does not degenerate into vain and sterile examinations” (Document A). In this document Napoleon is talking about the new schools he is opening. This shows he supported égalité because opening schools allowed more kids to receive an education. The Napoleonic Code stated that “the exercise of civil rights is independent of the quality of the citizen” (Document L). Since Napoleon gave everyone the same rights, it shows he supported égalité. Finally, Napoleon created the Bank of France. This bank collected taxes from each citizen so that the government could make loans to businesses (Murphy 12/1216). This shows Napoleon supported égalité because everyone had to pay the taxes. Also all businesses could receive loans from the Bank of

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