Women's Rights in the French Revolution

Linda Kerber’s Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America was a refreshing historian analysis of the role of women in our nation’s history. In the early Revolution eras, the political role of women was nonexistent due to the traditional roles held by the patriarchal society the colonists lived in for most of their years. Kerber intertwined her book with an intelligent analysis, but also conveys this analysis in a clear way so that reader can comprehend further. Throughout the book, chapters divide each segment of women’s rights by explaining the slow, but progressive build of them. The exploration of womens rights in Women of the Republic is developed by each opportunity opened during the American Revolution.

Carol Berkin clearly states her thesis in the introduction of Revolutionary Mothers. “Despite the absence of radical changes in gender ideology and gender roles for most women, the Revolution did lend legitimacy to new ideas about women’s capacities and their proper roles”. (Berkin 2005) In two thousand and fourteen it is questionable about how clearly women’s roles have changed especially in the areas of economics and politics at least it is obvious that the revolution did not bring equality.

As the saying goes, “a woman’s work is never done,” but today’s women live a far different life than their predecessors. The women of the revolution were courageous and brave-hearted. The obstacles of their time were far more difficult to overcome than those faced by women in this day and age. Whether it was slavery, war, or racial prejudice, these women kept their heads held high and worked to break down these barriers and create change for the future. On top of having to deal with these hardships, the women of the revolution had families to take care of, mouths to feed, houses to clean, and wounds to heal. For many women of the revolution it was all about taking a stand for their rights and being

After the revolution women didn’t gain many rights and were compared as unequals to men. They still were unable to vote and women in the

The Women's Rights Movement was a series of of political campaigns on women's rights. It fought for equality between a man and a women. The first wave of feminism started around the middle or upper class white women and involved suffrage and political equality. They fought for the right to vote. And just wanted to give women some of the same opportunities men had at this time. This movement gave women a new purpose in America.

The destruction of the monarchy during the French Revolution symbolized the Enlightened opinion that people shared fundamental rights. Questions about what it truly meant to be a citizen, especially in respect to political responsibilities such as voting and holding offices, were passionately contemplated and defined. However, prejudices quickly created controversies over whom, exactly, these rights and privileges belonged to. Craftily referred to as “citizenesses”, women were one such deliberated group during the French Revolution. In an era when absolute religious rule was renounced, opposing opinions tried to justify the inclusion or exclusion of women in this civil rights revolution using their own interpretation of what “nature” intended.

This paper will explore the social structure of France prior to the Revolution, and how a group of poor women expressed their concerns in a “Petition of Women of the Third Estate to the King ”. Pre-revolutionary France had a social class system based around three “Estates;” the First consisted of clergy, the Second of nobility, and the Third of commoners. Although these Estates were subordinate to the king, he had little direct control over them . Compounding this weakness was vulnerability to rebellion from the Third Estate . The power of the monarchy rested upon its ability to garner the support of its subjects, rather than its ability to force compliance to its edicts . After the loss of essential colonial revenue sources in previous wars, the king had to convince members of the Third Estate to agree to bear a heavier tax burden .

The political views of male Enlightenment figures consisted of campaigning for human rights and freedom for all, but when they said all, in most cases this invitation did not include women. During the Enlightenment, the period of reasoning and logic, new ideas supporting women’s rights were conceived. The persecution and objectification that women have faced throughout history is immeasurable. There was nothing close to equality between men and women in political, social, or economic fields. Men considered women’s only purpose their ability to bear children, heirs for the upper classes and laborers for the lower. Women’s fathers and husbands had dictated the limitations and rules of conduct for women, placing restraints as in which people they

In France during the French Revolution, was a setback for women. They fought long and hard only to be rejected of full citizenship and the right to vote, which they didn’t even get until World War II. In France a lot of the men did agree with Rousseau, that women had no business in public affairs and belonged at home. Many of the women at the time formed clubs such as the Revolutionary Republic Women. The Declaration of the Rights of Man didn’t grant full citizenship to women, even though the fundamental statement of equality was for the revolution. Between the years 1789 and 1791, the National Assembly created the Constitution of 1791. It granted full citizenship to Jews and other religious minorities, recognized 83 departments, eliminated

“Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death”, a chant that would have been heard in the streets of Paris during the French Revolution (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities). The French Revolution started in 1789 and came to a complete end in 1799; it was a turning point for the majority of France, the commoners, who were pressured by the aristocracy. Women during this time had little to no rights, but were very involved in the Revolution. They handled necessary duties for women at that time as well as staging demonstrations and riots; other women were more involved than others though beating the odds and making a way for women’s rights. Women played key roles during the French Revolution, without them the outcome would have been a far greater disaster.

Women may be the most oppressed people of all time. The pattern of victories and loses in the fight for equality between men and women is similar to that of an unsteady heart monitor. Though the woman of the 21st century has made many strides compared to her predecessors, the fight to equality is not yet fully in reach. That being said, the plight of women in 2015 seem minuscule to that of women in the post-Revolutionary French society. Being a woman in the first half of the 19th century was less than desirable around the world, with an emphasis in France. Napoleon became “Emperor” of France in 1799, crushing essentially all of the previous progress made by women in terms being recognized as politically equal and equal rights in general. With

Throughout human history, women have always been considered inferior to men. However, during the French Revolution, a change was wanted. They didn’t want to be considered inferior to men as they knew they could be very helpful to society and they were capable of doing more than just being the traditional housewife and teacher to their kids. The French Revolution was an uprising in France against the monarchy which resulted in France becoming a republic. The French Revolution had many causes. Their struggle for leadership took away their resources, leaving the common people angry. The conflict between Monarchy and nobility over the reform of the tax system led to no change and bankruptcy. The Enlightenment led to a need for reform brought on

Do you see a change in the status and role of the women during the French Revolution? In what ways did it find and an expression in popular culture, art and the new political changes associated with the French Revolution?

Math is a big part of our lives now because once we get jobs we usually have to count money or add things up and in high school and college math gets even harder every year. This woman was born in the era of revolution when she was born the American Revolution had just began and a decade and two years later the French Revolution had begun in her own country.

Despite being disregarded as equals by the French society, many women in France had roles in the French Revolution. Of the many women, three women in particular had pivotal functions in the founding of women’s rights. During the time period a societal change regarding the rights of women had begun to take place. Pauline Leon was the daughter of a chocolate maker and an exceptionally radical women activist during the French Revolution who helped lead a, short lived, but drastic club. Etta Palm D’Aelders, a Dutch woman, was a fundamental women’s rights activist with a knack for debating who addressed the national assembly and legislative assembly for equality for women in the eyes of the law for both marriage and women’s clubs. Olympe De Gouges was a female writer/playwright during the French