Unit 5: French Revolution, Napoleon, and the

Concert of EuropeNidia Castillo

Period 5

1992- “Napoleon was a child of the Enlightment.”Assess the validity of the statement above. Use examples referring both to specific aspects of the Enlightment and to Napoleon’s policies and attitudes.

Thesis

Napoleon included several Enlightment aspects in his policies and attitudes throughout his rule like encouraging equality for all men and freedom in religion. However, because of absolute tyranny and abolishment of newly gained rights, people questioned whether or not he was a conquering tyrant or an enlightened liberator.

I. Napoleon’s Codes

A. Civil Code of 18041. Equality in all men2. Security of wealth and private property

B. Napoleonic Code1. Abolished the system of serfdom2. Equal opportunity for all 3. Separation of “church” and “state”

A. Concordat of 1801- between Pope Pius VII

1.  Declared Catholicism the main religion of France

2. Protestants and Jews

state would be given protection to practice religion

B. Education1. Established Imperial

University2. New system for

secondary education

II. Religion and Education

Pope Pius VII

III. Absolute Power

A. The Directory- a five-man executive body that replaced the king. 

1. Napoleon went to Paris in 1799 to over throw the Directory

B. First Consul of the Republic1. a plebiscite in December 1799 approved a

new constitution consolidating his position as

emperor of France

Three Consuls

Crowning of Josephine de

Beauharnais

IV. Slavery and PrisonersA. Reinstituted slavery in

Haiti in 1802B. Introduced

imprisonment without trial

1. In 1810, Napoleon had a secret police force that could arrest without trial

V. Abolishing newly gained rights

A. Napoleonic Code1. Rights taken away from women• family monarchy

B. Freedom of press•By 1811, four newspapers were left

Conclusion Napoleon sought to become the greatest leader France had ever

seen. Some of his changes he made were inspired by the Enlightment. For example, he established two different codes that supported equality for all men, the abolishment of serfdom and the separation between the church and state by granting religious freedom to Protestants and Jews. Napoleon promoted education by creating an education system for secondary schooling which prepared the future leaders of the nation. On the other hand, he eliminated a number of rights his people had gotten in the French Revolution. Women were stripped of their rights and depended on men, slavery was reintroduced in Haiti, and the elimination of freedom of speech and press left France with four newspapers that were used for government propaganda. Because of his absolute power, he was addicted to conquering whoever he could and being at the top. In the end, Napoleon was one of the greatest leaders of France; through both Enlightened policies, his own attitude, and relentless ambition, he conquered much of what he wanted for France.