The Power Of The United States

In this letter, he disapproved of the reduction of his royal powers and personal wealth, which affected his lifestyle and authority. He denounced the Revolution, National Assembly, and its constitution. Copies of the letter circulated in public and revealed to people that “Louis had lied to the French” when he swore an oath “before God and the nation to uphold the constitution” (102). Not only did he leave behind his people but his flight would have led to a civil war between revolutionaries and loyalists aided by foreigners. On top of that, deputies of the National Assembly dealt with the aftermath of a missing king: paranoid Parisians suspecting a conspiracy, people storming the palace, and palace servants being accused of treason. This added to the “profound sense of desertion and betrayal” by a king that people saw as a “good father” (222). Out of disgust, they denounced Louis: calling him all sorts of names, took down portraits of him, and covered “in black the word royal” on signs, buildings, and other public places (110). The “myth of the kingship had been shattered” because nobody knew what to do with Louis at this time (104, 108). Some wanted exile or imprisonment whereas others suggested reinstating him as only a figurehead, and some thought about a “republic without a king” (108). Either way, they no longer

looked like the 4 Musketeers in tourist clothes! We headed back to the car and off to the hotel we

All though Louis XVI was well-meaning, he was weak and vacillating. When Louis Xvi first started his reign, in an attempt to gain popular support, he restored all the parlements and confirmed their old powers. On June 20th, Louis XVI locked the National Assembly out of their traditional meeting

What would start as an act to protect people from the abuses of the government, would turn into one of the most oppressive periods of French History, giving it the name: Reign of Terror. King Louis XIV’s expensive and unnecessary war debts and lavish expenditures left his citizens starving and without a platform. In order to solve this, Louis XIV raised taxes, making the very mistake of King George III that led to the American Revolution. The social classes were called to reach a solution, but as always reached a stalemate. Delegates of the Estates General then took for themselves their natural right to dissention, and created the National Assembly. Regarding the right to dissent, the right to one’s own religious views,

The goal of the French Revolution was to change the governmental structure from a monarchy to a democracy and that government was to spread their democratic ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity (Doc B). However, people in the Vendée region were thrown off of boats and drowned for opposing the revolution (French Revolution - History Channel documentary). An important part of democracy is freedom of speech, the idea that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. With displays of violence, the government sent the message that only those in support of the revolution could speak their mind. Additionally, one major complaint of the people in France was that the King had too much power; yet, a court of justice called the revolutionary Tribunal was established to try all crimes against the state, and the members would not be elected. Instead they were “appointed by the National Convention (the revolutionary government) and their power would be absolute” (Doc E). So while the leaders ‘established’ a system in which the people could decide what they want and who they want in authority, only a small group of people decided the fate of thousands. Furthermore the very leader of the revolution claimed that in order to create a democracy, they had to act as a dictatorship. In a speech to the National Convention, Robespierre said, “We must finish the war of

“I immediately sent a non-commissioned officer and 12 men to protect both the sentry and the king's money, and very soon followed myself to prevent, if possible, all disorder, fearing lest the officer and soldiers, by the

The men that drove these revolts were very determined to change their world. When Marquis de Lafayette, a French noble, went to America and fought as a volunteer in the American Revolution, he was inspired by their quest for liberty. He brought this inspiration home with him, and began the French pursuit for freedom. In 1788 "absolute monarchy was collapsing... What would replace it?" (Mckay, 706). The three estates would quarrel for the next few years about how to proceed. In the end the National Assembly would form, vowing not to disband until a new constitution was born. On August 27, 1789 the National Assembly (NA) issued the: Declaration of the rights of man. By 1790 the NA would hold the power of lawmaking. Although it did not last long, the idea was there and it did bring about some type of reform. Unfortunately, Napoleon would reign and dictatorship would once again reign in France.

Citizens were not permitted to vote as individuals. Instead one vote was given to each of the three estates, the clergy (first), aristocrats (second), and everyone else excluded from the first two, who were most commonly peasants and the working class (third) (Roberts et al. 646). Unsurprisingly, the Third Estate was outvoted and citizens within became furious. They, “…insisted that those who worked [for low wages] and pay taxes were the nation…” (Roberts et al. 646) Shortly afterward, the National Assembly was born and was determined to take France’s future into its own (Belloc, 93).

Everything seemed as if it would work with Maria Antoinette doing the planning by making sure every contact was in place at each stop and her close friend Ferdens helping out, but Louis worst characteristic kept coming into play, his indecisiveness.

The published letter of the king’s reasoning for departure also served the public with rage, and, “equally significant for the future of the Revolution was the dramatic change in attitude toward the king…everything was transformed by the king’s flight.” (Tackett, 101) People in the streets of Paris were throwing out their portraits of the royal family and were seeing the king, the one they praised a week ago, as a deserter and conspirator to their newly-formed and praised government. The use of rumor and newspapers by members of The Cordelier Club also helped spread certain radical ideals in which prompted the idea of turning France into a republic, and of dissembling the monarchy and the king altogether. It was this power in the streets of Paris that would soon grow with every day after the king fled, as, “Outside the Legislative Assembly, however, the more radical revolutionaries had managed to hold the loyalty of most of the provincial club network, giving them a powerful propaganda tool.” (Popkin, 58) The National Assembly was still strong in its number of members favorable of this new constitutional monarchy, but it was in the streets and with the people that the actual aspect of the Revolution was shifting. Members of the National Assembly were getting restless

King Louis XVI believed the revolutionary changes he detested “had been provoked by a few radicals in the National Assembly and their demagogic control of Parisian ‘rabble’ (87).” As thousand flocked to see the kings caravan return to Paris it became evident he had misinterpreted the true influence of the revolution. Many of his loyal subjects rejected the notion removing their hats upon his arrival, a snub to the king and his royal family. Previously under the king’s regime the general public had considered him

With King Louis XVI making the bad decisions, acknowledgement was to be done to fix corruption in government. As said in document A, "The representatives of the French people believed that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole causes of public calamities and the corruption of the government." King Louis was a poor absolute monarch during the 1780's (document B) juggling France's unfair tax system and poverty (background essay). This relates back to representatives of the French people's beliefs of a corrupted government. Seen throughout the Reign of Terror, the reign of Robespierre, and King Louis XVI reign, corruption of government is through ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man (document B). Although power has been taken advantaged of through absolute monarchs, they have changed history for better. Without their abuse of power, the Reign of Terror wouldn't have ended and solved the problems France was facing.

The Royal Family of France’s attempted escape on June 20th, 1791 made many people very unhappy with the King. The mob, ever ready to exercise the uncontrolled Rights of Men, made a mock parade of the King’s Arms in the market places, and, dashing them and the figure of a crown to the ground, they trampled upon them, crying out, “Since the King has abandoned what he owed to his high situation, let us trample upon the ensigns of royalty” (Ascherson 48)! The Royal Family not only lost many of its followers through their attempted escape, but also because King Louis XVI kept making bad decisions, ones that had no benefit to France or its people. The people wanted someone who would lead them into a revolution and change France for the better, not because they wanted the power, but because they believed in France and wanted it to become a great nation. That man was Robespierre, who after the flight of the King followed the Jacobin club in its move toward republicanism. He called for universal male suffrage and the end of property qualifications for voting and office holding (Blumberg 290). Robespierre wanted to make France a republic, a government for the people and by the people, a country where everyone had the freedoms and rights they deserved. In January of 1793, Robespierre voted on whether or not he thought that King Louis should be executed for his actions. At the Convention on the trial

According to, an historian “The revolution successfully reshaped French society into a free and equal one”. The French Revolutions had many ups, almost ups and then straight downs. One of the accomplishments, which I felt like was the biggest one, was the National Assembly. The National Assembly did a lot of great things during the French Revolution. They adopt the Declaration of the Right of Man and of the Citizen, which later we also adopted into our constitution.

In essence, the Estate General members converted themselves into a National Assembly and issued the ‘Declaration of Right of Man’, which stated ‘men are born free and equal in rights’. As a result, this facet gave the French Revolution its solang of ‘Liberty, ‘Equality’ and ‘Fertunity’. This meant, that France will no longer be ruled on an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and churches. Furthermore, the Estate General now known as the National Assembly seized all the wealthy churches properties and took the king and queen captive. Thus, the city was left in their hands.