The French Revolution

By Jourdan Papadopoulos

&Max Merrill

Religious Revolution• In 1789, Catholicism was the official religion of the French state.

• The French Catholic Church recognized the authority of the pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church o The church had negotiated certain liberties that privileged the

authority of the French monarcho Being French effectively meant being Catholic

The Assembly imposed a radical reorganization on religious lifeo It granted religious freedom to the minority of French Jews and

Protestantso Nationalized the Catholic church’s property o Abolished monasteries as useless relics of the past

The government used all former church property as collateral to guarantee a new paper currency

The church’s land was sold in large blockso Peasants purchased much when it was subdividedo The purchases strengthened new revolutionary order in the

French country Religious reorganization of France brought the new government into

conflict with the Catholic church and Christians (especially in the countryside)

The National Assembly harbored a deep distrust of popular piety and “superstitious religion”o Established a national church with priests chosen by voters

National Assembly required the Catholic clergy to take a loyalty oath to the new government

The pope condemned attempt to subjugate the church

Result?o A deep division within both the country and the clergy on religiono Confused and hostile French Catholicso Conflict between the educated classes and the common people emergedo FIRST important failure for the revolutionary government

o By 1794, France’s churches and religious orders were closed down and religious worship suppressed.

Intellectuals of the Revolution• The terms Right and Left for the political

spectrum, the creation of modern conservatism, words like Jacobins or Thermidorian Reaction and much of the other vocabulary we use to think about social change all come from the French Revolution.

• French intellectuals and publicists engaged in passionate analysis of the federal Constitution (also reviewed the constitutions of the various states of the new United States)

o The American Revolution undeniably hastened upheaval in France

• 1775 Thomas Paine’s, Common SenseoWrote and reasoned in a style common people

understoodo Presented the American colonists with an

argument for freedom from British rule• 1792 Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the

Rights of Womano works of feminist philosophy• Due to the Enlightenment, it led the French to

pursue their natural rights• Voltaire, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes fought for a

more democratic role of government

ROCOCO Art

• originated in France in the early 18th century and is marked by elaborate ornamentation, as with a profusion of scrolls, foliage, and animal forms.

• placed emphasis on portraying the carefree life of the aristocracy rather than on grand heroes or pious martyrs.

• Love and romance were considered to be better subjects for art than historical or religious subjects.

• characterized by a free, graceful movement; a playful use of line; and delicate colors.

• In the late 18th century it was denounced by critics who condemned it as tasteless, frivolous, and symbolic of a corrupt society.

Social

• Economic hardships- harvests were extremely poor in 1788• Believed they should have steady work and enough bread at fair prices to survive •nobility and clergy were putting all the economic responsibility on the peasant class

o taxing them like crazy!

•The peasants did not have a voice

• Woman o Customarily brought the food and managed the family’s resources o Woman made the garments for the aristocratic and international clientele o Marie Antoinette was widely despised by French woman for her “immoral behavior”•

Technology• Millennium Clock

o symbolic timekeeping invention of the mid-1700so able to keep track of the leap year through the addition of

a special wheel• Machine Boring

o John Wilkinson found a way to precision bore a smooth cylinder into cast iron to create a much-improved cannon barrel.

o This advancement had an immediate impact on the accuracy of many types of military armaments, but the discovery did not stop there.

C 'est la fin

• http://youtu.be/veCTmmARm2E