The French Revolution And The Tennis Court Oath

The beginning of the liberal revolution in France strongly anticipated the idea that people should have the power, citizen’s should be equal, and a revolution was most definitely needed. The

Moving on to the time period of this document this document was written March 1, 1789 a couple months before the storming of the Bastille. Thus, at this time in history there was a significant amount of commotion arising from the people of the Third Estate. The people of the Third Estate were trying to voice their opinions on the oppressive political and economic situations occurring at this time in France in order to try and bring about a reform. These oppressive political and economic situations that the Third Estate were trying to reform included things such as the king heavily taxing only the Third Estate, who already did not even have the finances to survive let alone pay these high taxes. Another example is the fact that the Third Estate did not have equal representatives in the political society to represent their wants and demands in comparison to the First and Second Estates, which can be seen through out Cahier de Doleance’s, Villagers of Lion-en-Sullias, Women of Paris, Flower Sellers, and Village of Pithiviers-le-Vieil. Cahier de Doleance’s, District of Mansigne. Not only does this text help historians and the reader get a better understanding of the specific wants of the Third Estate but the rest of his documents such as Villagers of Lion-en-Sullias, Women of Paris, Flower Sellers, and

It can me asserted that the Enlightenment thinker’s ideas had the desired effect on France as France became more stable with the emergence of new bodies of power which would enforce just laws, the separation of church and state which would maintain stability within the stat, and the rise of Napoleon who came to save the disembodied France from ruin. The rise of the Jacobin Club and the Reign of Terror was a necessary evil as it revealed the need for a new body of power that wouldn’t allow for such an extremist group to rise and wreak havoc on society. “In addition, the middle-class members of the National Convention wrote a new constitution restricting eligibility to serve as a deputy to men of substantial means. Real power lay with a new five-man executive body, called the Directory. France’s new rulers continued to support military expansion abroad, but war was no longer so much a

Document 2 speaks to Napoleon's trueness to the revolution in the sense that he believed in many of the ideas of the revolution such as the demise of noble privilege, the division of

This ideology is embraced during the French Revolution as “before the revolution, French society was grounded in the inequality of rights,” among the citizens. (Spielvogel578) The French were divided into classes, having no voice among the three estates, leading to the national assembly. The national assembly, influenced by John Locke’s ideology of rejecting royal reign superiority, created the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Locke’s argument of revolution against tyranny was accepted to bring reasonable rule to the nation and citizens. The same liberalist view of overthrowing of ruler is seen during the napoleon rule. Benjamin Constant published The Principles of Politics advocating for the regulations of the generals will of the individuals liberty, “distinguishing between sovereignty, authority, and individual freedom,” right before Napoleon’s final defeat. (Primary Sources 342)

The fire was burning too brightly and in order to contain the flames out of this came the creation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen on the 26 August 1789 by the National Assembly, composed of those from the Third Estate. This declaration was heavily influenced by the American Revolution and Thomas Jefferson, who one of the founding fathers and a principal author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was all about man’s ‘natural right’ at any time and pertaining to any individual, no matter where they were in the world. This is one of the most important and significant declarations created in all of history. It created an outcry and demand for similar rights and liberty across all of Europe, where most countries were still dominated by the establishment of the monarchy. It also spread universally, to places such as the Caribbean and the Middle East who wanted a democratic republic just like France had been aiming for. What many countries started to see was that such freedom was born out of the ever growing reality of nationalism, which had already caused terror among and against the people.

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.

Beginning in 1789, the French Revolution was a time of rebellion, passion, betrayal, death, violence, and perseverance. Before 1789, King Louis XVI was taxing his poorest people heavily, whilst the rich were hardly taxed at all. The socioeconomic system in place at the time, known as the ancien regime, ruthlessly upheld the status quo. When the tension in France rose to a boiling point, fiery, young rebels to rose up against the Monarchy, the Ancien Regime, and the Clergy. These revolutionaries desperately wanted change, and they had three main principles around which their movement centered: Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité. Liberty is the freedom to do as one pleases so long as one’s actions do not unjustifiably harm others. Equality is being considered the same. Fraternity is a sense of brotherhood and companionship. The goals of the French Revolution were initially achieved with alacrity, however they were abandoned with relative quickness as malcontented leaders quested for, and abused, power and authority.

French Revolution: Final Essay The French Revolution accomplished many things. The clergy and nobility began to struggle to keep their power in the resolutions losing some authority over the people. The peasants and san culottes got more rights in the first revolution but they did not get any political power.

The denial of the right to overthrow a corrupt government is shown once more by the Document known as the “Law of Suspects”. This document states that “All suspected persons within the territory of the Republic and still at liberty shall be placed into custody...The following are deemed suspected persons: 1st, those who, by their conduct, associations, talk, or writings have shown themselves to be enemies of liberty...4th, public officials suspended or dismissed from their positions by the National Convention or by its commissioners and not reinstated…” (Law of Suspects (Modified) Handout). This document written by Robespierre is quite plainly stated that anyone who even seems like they don’t agree with the Revolution will be placed into custody. When a citizen is not given permission to freely express what they feel, the citizen no longer has the ability to overthrow the government that suppresses that ability in the first

The French Revolution was based on an assortment of Enlightenment ideals. French philosophers, including Voltaire and Rousseau led the revolution leading up to the revolution, so to speak, coming up with progressive ideals as to government, social structure, and the nature of people. Indeed, the ideals which the revolution was fought in the name of progressed throughout France and, eventually, Europe. Though the revolution took wrong turns along the way, the ideals which it was based on never wavered. Even during the heart of his Reign of Terror, Robespierre spoke of a state where each citizen wants to do good by his country. This shows Robespierre with an unwavering commitment to the state, an ideal which came out of the Enlightenment. Though he may have carried out his beliefs in a gruesome and perhaps wrong way, his ideals were the same as the Enlightenment philosophers: make the state better for all to live in.

The French Revolution of 1789 was inarguably a significant turning point in the history of Europe. However, there have been historical debates over the major contributing factor that had caused the French Revolution. Many historians have argued that the French Revolution was sparked by the emerging new age ideas of Enlightenment in the 18th century, which encouraged people to think logically and critically about their society. Many notable writers such as Diderot and Voltaire began to publicly criticise the social structure and the governance of France. (Darlington et al., 2004, p.25) But other historians argue that ideas affected the way people saw

In the months and years that followed the storming of the Bastille is where one can see just how influential it was in ending the French ancien regime and the divine right monarchy that it entailed. In the month following the liberation of the Bastille the National Assembly passed the document known as Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The document was influenced by Thomas Jefferson as well as French Enlightenment thinkers such as Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire. According to the authors of the Encyclopedia Brittanica the primary principles of the Declaration were as follows:

The French Revolution was ultimately an attempt to implement the influential principles of classical liberalism into their society. Influentially, the Protestant Reformation, with its faith in the rationality of the individual, was becoming a more prominent concept in France’s society. Additionally, the country was currently experiencing a corrupt social stature due to the unjust tax burden subsequently caused by the county’s debt. Therefore, this resulted in the Third Estate to revolt against their authority in 1789, however, due to the evolution of liberalistic beliefs, the leaders of the Revolution believed in the principles of liberalism which subsequently was reflected in the production of specific documents. Especially, the Declaration of the

The French Revolution of 1789 changed the meaning of the word “revolution.” Prior to this year, revolution meant restoring a previous form of government that had been taken away. Since then, revolution has meant creating a new institution of government that did not previously exist. This required that a constitution be drafted. After a series of four mini-revolutions from May to July, the “Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen” was released on the twenty-sixth of August, 1789. When the French revolutionaries drew up the Declaration, they wanted to end the traditions surrounding hereditary monarchy and establish new institutions based on the principles of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment