1

Name: _________________________________________ Date: Global History II, Carr Period: Aim: What were the causes of the French and American Revolutions?

The Declaration of Independence & The Declaration of Rights of Man

Directions: Read the following excerpts from the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of Rights of Man. As we look for similarities between the two documents, also look for areas within the documents that use Enlightenment ideas. At the end of this reading, you will be able to:

1. Explain how the French and American Revolutions used Enlightened ideas of the social contract 2. Describe the causes of the French and American Revolutions.

Excerpt from: The Declaration of

Independence: IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

Annotations & Questions

Underline the central ideas &

paraphrase

Excerpt from: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

from the Constitution of Year I (1793)

When in the Course of human

events, it becomes necessary for

one people to dissolve the

political bands which have

connected them with another,

and to assume among the

powers of the earth, the separate

and equal station to which the

Laws of Nature and of Nature's

God entitle them, a decent

respect to the opinions of

mankind requires that they

should declare the causes which

impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-

evident, that all men are created

American Declaration of Independence CENTRAL IDEA:

French Declaration of Rights CENTRAL IDEA:

The French people, convinced that

forgetfulness and contempt

(disrespect) of the natural rights of

man are the sole causes of the

miseries of the world, have

resolved to set forth in a solemn

declaration these sacred and

inalienable rights, in order that all

the citizens, being able to compare

unceasingly the acts of the

government with the aim of every

social institution, may never allow

themselves to be oppressed and

debased by tyranny; and in order

that the people may always have

before their eyes the foundations of

their liberty and their welfare, the

magistrate the rule of his duties,

the legislator the purpose of his

commission.

In consequence, it proclaims in the

2

equal, that they are endowed by

their Creator with certain

unalienable Rights, that among

these are Life, Liberty and the

pursuit of Happiness (property). -

-That to secure these rights,

Governments are instituted

among Men, deriving their just

powers from the consent of the

governed, --That whenever any

Form of Government becomes

destructive of these ends, it is the

Right of the People to alter or to

abolish it, and to institute new

Government, laying its

foundation on such principles

and organizing its powers in such

form, as to them shall seem most

likely to effect their Safety and

Happiness.

Such has been the patient

sufferance of these Colonies;

and such is now the necessity

which constrains (pressures)

them to alter their former

American Declaration of

Independence & Enlightenment:

Underline parts of the text that reflect Enlightenment ideas. NAME the Philosopher(s) who came up with these ideas

French Declaration of Rights & Enlightenment:

Underline parts of the text that reflect Enlightenment

ideas. NAME the Philosopher(s)

who came up with each idea 1. 2. 3. 4.

presence of the supreme being the

following declaration of the rights of

man and citizen:

1. The aim of society is the

common welfare. Government is

instituted in order to guarantee to

man the enjoyment of his natural

and imprescriptible rights.

2. These rights are equality, liberty,

security, and property.

3. All men are equal by nature and

before the law.

4. Law is the free and solemn

expression of the general will; it is

the same for all, whether it protects

or punishes; it can command only

what is just and useful to society; it

can forbid only what is injurious to

it.

5. All citizens are equally eligible to

public employments. Free peoples

know no other grounds for

preference in their elections than

virtue and talent.

6. Liberty is the power that belongs

to man to do whatever is not

3

Systems of Government….

He (the King of Great Britain) has

refused his Assent to Laws, the

most wholesome and necessary

for the public good…

He (the King of Great Britain) has

refused to pass other Laws for

the accommodation (betterment)

of large districts (groups) of

people…

He (the King of Great Britain) has

called together legislative bodies

at places unusual,

uncomfortable, and distant from

the [collection] of their public

Records, for the sole purpose of

[draining] them into [agreement]

with his measures…

He (the King of Great Britain) has

dissolved (ended)

Representative Houses

repeatedly, for opposing (going

against) with manly firmness his

invasions on the rights of the

people.

5. 6. 7.

American Declaration of Independence: Name 3 reasons why the American Colonies wished to declare independence from Great Britain? 1. 2. 3.

injurious to the rights of others; it

has nature for its principle, justice

for its rule, law for its defense; its

moral limit is in this maxim: Do not

do to another that which you do not

wish should be done to you.

7. The right to express one's

thoughts and opinions by means of

the press or in any other manner,

the right to assemble peaceably,

the free pursuit of religion, cannot

be forbidden.

The necessity of enunciating

(speaking about) these rights

supposes (is because of…) either

the presence or the fresh

4

French Declaration of

Rights: Rewrite this sentence in your

own words.

According to this text, what do you think was the cause

of the French Revolution?

recollection of despotism.

Despotism means: - Absolutism - Dictatorship - Monarchy - Tyranny

… When the government violates

the rights of the people,

insurrection (rebellion) is for the

people and for each portion of the

people the most sacred of rights

and the most indispensable of

duties.

American Declaration of Independence

Identify the authors’ argument: In ONE well established sentence, write the authors’ argument. The authors are arguing that…

French Declaration of Rights of Man

Identify the authors’ argument: In ONE well established sentence, write the authors’ argument. The authors are arguing that…

5

Name: _________________________________________ Date: Global History II, Carr Period: Aim: What were the causes of the French and American Revolutions?

DO NOW Answer the following questions in list form (ex: free education, law enforcement…) Be creative and insightful! Make connections to the ideas of the ENLIGHTENMENT!

What types of services should government provide for it’s citizens? Provide a LIST

What should the citizens do if the government does not provide these basic services?

Name: ________________________________________

Date:

Period:

Global History II, Carr

Aim: How did increasing class antagonism in France lead to an attempt at revolt? DO NOW: Based on this sentence, define antagonism: *Hint* it is related to Polarization

The Third Estate had great antagonism towards the Monarchy in France.

Antagonism:

Analyze this image describing the French Revolution Who are each of the characters and what symbols are shown to describe them?

Character 1: Symbol(s): ----------------------------------------------

Character 1: Symbol(s): ----------------------------------------------

Character 1: Symbol(s):

Page 1

Focus: What were the 3 Estates and how were they different?

ESTATE NAME

MADE UP OF WHO?

WHAT WERE THEIR JOBS?

HOW DID THEY FEEL ABOUT THE ENLIGHTENMENT

?

WHAT WAS THEIR

POPULATION IN FRANCE?

HOW MUCH OF THEIR

OVERALL INCOME WAS

PAID IN TAXES?

First Estate

___________% in all of France

Second Estate

___________% in all of France

Third Estate

Bourgeoisie (Middle Class)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

___________% in all of France (part of 97% of all Third Estate)

All third estate paid ___________% of their income in taxes

Urban Working Class

1. 2. 3. 4.

___________% in all of France (part of 97% of all Third Estate)

All third estate paid ___________% of their income in taxes

Peasants 1. 2.

___________% in all of France (part of 97% of all Third Estate)

All third estate paid ___________% of their income in taxes

Page 2

Name: ________________________________________

Date:

Period:

Global History II, Carr

Aim: How did the French Government attempt to prevent the revolution from happening? DO NOW:

Analyze the image below

1. WHO are the 2 distinct groups of people in this image?

2. WHAT are each of the groups doing/talking about?

3. HOW is this connected to the French Revolution?

Page 1

Aim: How did the French Government attempt to prevent the revolution from happening? TIMELINE: Prevention of Revolution through POLICY

Actions of 1st and 2nd Estates YEAR Actions of 3rd Estate

Who was the Debt in France caused by?

What was the attempted debt solution/policy?

What was the Estates-General Assembly held for?

1780s

May 5 1789

June 17 1789

Third Estate attends the Estates-General Assembly

What was the role of the Third Estate?

How did the Third Estate respond?

Page 2

Timeline Continued: Prevention of Revolution through VIOLENCE

Actions of 1st and 2nd Estates YEAR Actions of 3rd Estate

Who was present at the meeting of the Estates-General?

Who complained?

Why did King Louis XIV feel betrayed?

What action did he take?

mercenary: soldiers paid to kill

June 20 1789

July 1789

July 14 1789

What did the Third estate name their representatives?

*First deliberate act of a revolution*

National Assembly/Third Estate were locked out of their meeting room

TENNIS COURT OATH

What 2 things did the Third Estate do?

1. 2.

Bastille Day A mob of men seized control of the Bastille

Bastille: a prison in France

Who was attacked?

Page 3

Name: ________________________________________ Date: Period: Global History II, Carr Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? DO NOW: In ONE well crafted sentence, explain the French Revolution up to the storming of the Bastille. In your sentence, you must use at least 4 of the words from the word bank below:

Antagonize or Antagonism Polarize or Polarization 1st Estate 2nd Estate

3rd Estate Policy Violence

Craft your sentence on the lines below:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Revolution in France” - A Music Video

As you listen to and watch the music video, write one thing that you already knew about the French Revolution, and TWO knew things that you learned.

Use two or more of the KEY WORDS OR IDEAS below in your Music Video response questions:

Radicals Sans-culottes Guillotine Robespierre

Reign of Terror New Directory Foreign War August Decrees

One thing in the video that I already knew about the French Revolution is:

TWO knew things that I learned about the French Revolution from the video were:

1.

2.

1

Name: _______________________________________ Date:

Global History II, Carr Period:

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Background: Three distinct periods following the storming of a bastille and the fall of the French Monarchy mark the course of the French

Revolution. Those periods can be traced through the transfer of power to three distinct government bodies and constitutions.

Directions: Fill in the column for the period of the French Revolution you read. As we discuss, fill in the rest

The National Assembly

The French National Convention

The Directory

Date in existence: Date in existence: Date in existence:

Who were the leaders of the France during this political period of the revolution? (groups of people or specific names)

Who were the leaders of the France during this political period of the revolution? (groups of people or specific names)

Who were the leaders of the France during this political period of the revolution? (groups of people or specific names)

Moderate or Radical (Extreme government)?

Moderate or Radical (Extreme government)?

Moderate or Radical (Extreme government)?

Extra Notes:

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Background: Three distinct periods following the storming of a bastille and the fall of the French Monarchy mark the course of the French Revolution. Those periods can be traced through the transfer of power to three distinct government bodies and constitutions. Directions: Read the documents below and answer the questions that follow each. As you read, annotate in the margins provided. As you read, fill in the graphic organizer for your distinct time period during the French Rvolution Annotation Directions: CUTIE (modified)

- CIRCLE words you don’t know - use a dictionary to look up the word, and write it in the margins - UNDERLINE the main idea in each paragraph - Write the TOPIC of each paragraph in the margins (1 word or phrase) - INQUIRY: Write any questions which arise in the margins

Period I: 1789 - 1791, The National Assembly

The August Decrees August 11, 1789

Abolishing Feudalism

ARTICLE I. The National Assembly hereby completely abolishes the feudal system. It decrees that, among the existing rights and dues, both feudal and censuel, all those originating in or representing real or personal serfdom shall be abolished without indemnification (compensation). All other dues are declared redeemable (able to be recovered) , the terms and mode of redemption to be fixed by the National Assembly. Those of the said dues which are not extinguished by this decree shall continue to be collected until indemnification shall take place. ARTICLE III. The exclusive (high-class; elite) right to hunt and to maintain uninclosed warrens is likewise abolished, and every landowner shall have the right to kill, or to have destroyed on his own land, all kinds of game, observing, however, such police regulations as may be established with a view to the safety of the public.

Name two laws the National Assembly passed with the August Decrees _______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

2

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Period I: 1789 - 1791, The National Assembly, Cont.

Title: The Triumph of the Third Estate

Based on the image, happened to the balance of power between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Estates under the National Assembly? _______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

3

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Period I: 1789 - 1791, The National Assembly, Cont.

The Constitution of 1791; The National Assembly

September 3, 1791

[Preamble] The National Assembly, wishing to establish the French Constitution upon the principles it has just recognized and declared (in the Declaration of Rights of Man) , abolishes irrevocably (unchangeably) the institutions which were injurious to liberty and equality of rights. Neither nobility, nor peerage (rank), nor hereditary (inherited) distinctions, nor distinctions of orders, nor feudal regime (rule) … nor any titles, denominations (movements), or prerogatives (agendas) derived therefrom, nor any order of knighthood, nor any corporations or decorations requiring proofs of nobility or implying distinctions of birth, nor any superiority other than that of public functionaries in the performance of their duties any longer exists. Neither privilege nor exception to the law common to all Frenchmen any longer exists for any part of the nation or for any individual. The law no longer recognizes religious vows or any other obligation contrary to natural rights or the Constitution.

What ideas are being embraced by the National Assembly in the French Constitution of 1791? _______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

After reading the 3 documents on the rule of the National Assembly from 1789 - 1791, was there leader ship moderate or extreme ? - circle one.

Moderate / Extreme

Did the power of the National Assembly lay in the hand of moderate revolutionaries, or extreme radicals? - circle one.

Moderate revolutionaries / Extreme radicals

4

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Period II: The French National Convention September 1792 - October 1795

The Reign (Rule ) of Terror 1792 - 1795

The Terror was designed to fight the enemies of the revolution, to prevent counter-revolution from gaining ground. Most of the people rounded up were not aristocrats (noblemen), but ordinary people. A man (and his family) might go to the guillotine for saying something critical of the revolutionary government. If an informer happened to overhear, that was all the Revolutionary Tribunal needed. Civil liberties were suspended. The promises of the Declaration of the Rights of Man were forgotten. Terror was the order of the day. In the words of Maximilien Robespierre , "Softness to traitors will destroy us all." The guillotine , the new instrument of “egalitarian (equal) justice”, was put to work. Public executions were considered educational. Women were encouraged to sit and knit during trials and executions. The Revolutionary Tribuna l ordered the execution of 2,400 people in Paris by July 1794. Across France 30,000 people lost their lives. Robespierre was the mastermind of the Reign of Terror. He was the leader of the Committee of Public Safety, the executive committee of the National Convention, and the most powerful man in France.

Why was the period during which the National Convention held political power through the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre considered the “Reign of Terror”? Provide one example from the text to support your response _______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________

5

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Period II: The French National Convention, Cont. September 1792 - October 1795

The Law of Suspects France, September 17, 1793

1. Immediately after the publication of this decree, all suspects found on the territory of the Republic and who are still at liberty will be arrested. 2. Suspects are: (i) Those who, either by their conduct or their relationships, by their remarks or by their writing, are shown to be partisans of tyranny and federalism and enemies of liberty; (iii) Those have been refused certificates of civic responsibility (certificats de civisme); (iv) Public officials suspended or deprived of their functions by the National Convention or its agents, and not since reinstated, especially those who have been, or ought to be, dismissed by the law of 14 August last; (v) Those former nobles, including husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons or daughters, brothers or sisters, and agents of émigrés, who have not constantly manifested their loyalty to the Revolution; (vi) Those who have emigrated (traveled; left the country) during the interval between the 1 July 1789 and the publication of the law of 8 April 1792, although they may have returned to France during the period of delay fixed by the law or before.

Name and describe two people who would be considered a “suspect” of the law and arrested on site under the “Law of Suspects” of 1793.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________

6

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Period II: The French National Convention, Cont. September 1792 - October 1795

Excerpt from: The Justification of the use of Terror , Speech by Maximilien Robespierre to the National Convention February 5, 1794

“... If the spring of popular government in time of peace is virtue (goodness; honorable; moral), the springs of popular government in revolution are at once virtue and terror: virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible...It has been said that terror is the principle of despotic (tyrannical; dictatorship) government. Does your government therefore resemble despotism? Yes, as the sword that gleams in the hands of the heroes of liberty resembles that with which the henchmen of tyranny are armed.”

What is Robespierre’s justification (reason) for leading the National Convention over France through terror? _______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ After reading the 3 documents on the rule of the National Convention from 1792 - 1795, was there leader ship moderate or extreme ? - circle one.

Moderate / Extreme

Did the power of the National Convention lay in the hand of moderate revolutionaries, or extreme radicals? - circle one.

Moderate revolutionaries / Extreme radicals

7

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Period III: The Constitution of the Year III - The Directory August 1795 - November 1799

Constitution of the Year III - Branches of Government 1795

EXECUTIVE POWER The Executive Power shall be delegated to a Directory of five members appointed by the Legislative Body, which for such purpose performs the functions of an electoral body, in the name of the nation. The Council of Five-Hundred shall prepare, by secret ballot, a list of ten times the number of members of the Directory to be appointed, and shall present it to the Council of Elders, which shall choose, also by secret ballot, from said list. The members of the Directory must be at least forty years of age. They may be chosen only from among citizens who have been ministers or members of the Legislative Body.

In the Constitution on the Year III, who held the executive power, and how many members where there? _______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

How many branches of government were there under the Constitution of Year III? Name them. _______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

8

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Period III: The Constitution of the Year III - The Directory August 1795 - November 1799

Constitution of the Year III - Contract 1795

GENERAL PROVISIONS There shall be no superiority among citizens other than that of public functionaries, and that only in relation to the performance of their duties. The law shall recognize neither religious vows nor any obligation contrary to the natural rights of man. No one may be prevented from speaking, writing, printing, or publishing his ideas. Writings may not be subjected to any censorship before their publication. No one may be held responsible for what he has written or published, except in cases provided for by law. No one may be prevented from performing the worship of his choice, so long as he complies with the laws. No one may be forced to contribute to the expenses of a religion. The Republic does not pay for any.

What ideas are being embraced by the Constitution Year III? Describe two of them _______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

9

Aim: Who takes control over a nation’s government during a political revolution? Period III: The Constitution of the Year III - The Directory August 1795 - November 1799

The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte

People had grown tired of the instability and bloodshed of the Reign of Terror (1792-1795) and were ready for something more moderate. By 1795, the republic was gone, and 5 men with business interests had the executive power in France. This new government was called The Directory and was far more conservative than the Jacobin republic had been. The Directory was effective in its first years, but then corruption and self-service set in. Internal bickering and in-fighting increasingly destabilised the country and, in 1799, two of its members - Paul Barras and Abbe Sieyes - plotted with Napoleon Bonaparte to overthrow their colleagues. The Coup of Brumaire succeeded and the Directory was dissolved. It was replaced by the Consulate . The French Revolution was over.

Why was Napoleon able to take over the government of France in 1799?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

After reading the 3 documents on the rule of The Directory (1795 - 1799), was there leader ship moderate or extreme ? - circle one.

Moderate / Extreme

Did the power of the The Directory lay in the hand of moderate revolutionaries, or extreme radicals? - circle one .

Moderate revolutionaries / Extreme radicals

10

Name: ________________________________________ Date: Period: Global History II, Carr

Aim: How did the radical takeover of government in France create an environment for the monarchy to

be restored?

Do Now:

1

Define Radical:

2

Answer the following question in ONE well developed sentence: Who took control over the French Government during their political revolution?

Include AT LEAST THREE of the following vocabulary words:

Radical Moderate Robespierre Guillotine Revolutionary

National Convention National Assembly Directory

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Exit Slip - Answer the following question in ONE well developed sentence:

Why is a radical takeover of a government unsustainable?

The Reign of Terror Gallery Spin Aim: How did the radical takeover of government in France create an environment for the monarchy to be restored? Directions: Read the text and analyze the images on each gallery poster IN ORDER. Then, answer the questions

in the chart below.

Gallery Poster

WHO were the key players involved? List them (individual names and groups of people)

How were each of the key players involved? WHAT did they do? WHAT

was their role?

HOW did their actions instil fear? Answer in ONE well developed

sentence

1-The Jacobins Club

2-The Sans-Culottes

3-The National Convention & Committee of Public Safety

Gallery Poster

WHO were the key players involved? List them (individual names and groups of people)

How were each of the key players involved? WHAT did they do? WHAT

was their role?

HOW did their actions instil fear? Answer in ONE well developed

sentence

The Guillotine

Georges Danton

The Directory

1 A meeting at the Jacobin Club

The Jacobin club gained prominence (importance) during the political control of the National Assembly in 1789 after the overthrow of the French Monarchy. Its purpose was to protect the gains of the Revolution against a possible aristocratic reaction (reaction from the nobility). The club soon admitted non political persons—usually prosperous bourgeois —and acquired affiliates throughout France. By July 1790 there were about 1,200 members in the Parisian club and 152 affiliate clubs. Officially called the “Society of the Friends of the Constitution”, the Jacobin Club, in the period of Maximillien Robespierre, embodied the most radical response to the revolutionary crisis . To defeat the forces of reaction to the revolution in France and abroad, they found themselves compelled to take radical measures — including price controls, food seizures, and the period of tactical violence that would come to be known as the “Reign of Terror.”

2

The Sans-Culottes The sans-culottes were the rebel “movement of the laboring poor” who, in historian Eric Hobsbawm‘s words, “provided the main striking-force of the revolution .” Sans culottes were radical urban workers and peasants, and were poorly dressed. The pantaloons that they wore were adapted to be called sans culottes. Sans-culotte is as sans-culotte does. Constant confrontation with the privileged,

often violently and in the street, demanding a world in which food is easily available and democracy simple and direct. The sans-culottes inhabited the political terrain of the street and the square as the bourgeois revolutionaries performed their political work in assembly halls and from within legislative bodies.

A popular uprising ejected Louis XVI from his final hiding place in Tuileries (August 10, 1792), which was a tremendous victory for the armies of sans-culottes who descended en masse upon the king, accusing him (quite rightly) of treasonous collusion (conspiracy or plotting) with foreign monarchies to squash the revolution at home.

In this political cartoon titled Un Petit Souper a la Parisienne (or A Family of Sans-Culottes Refreshing after the Fatigues of the Day), the Revolutionaries are portrayed as brutal, blood-hungry cannibals by James Gillray, a British printmaker and political cartoonist. He published Un Petit in 1792. Gillray, a conservative who

opposed the French Revolution, produced hundreds of cartoons lampooning the French, especially members of the Jacobins and the sans-culottes.

3 Robespierre

The National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety

Following the mass insurrection of the sans-culottes that effectively dissolved the monarchy and brought the armed bourgeoisie to power, European monarchies feared the French example would destabilize their power in their own countries, and they started taking military action against France. Furthermore, having recently learned the power of armed mobilization, the sans-culottes continued to make demands on the revolutionary government — and the members of the Bourgeoisie (the Jacobins) within it.

In response to this crisis, the Committee of Public Safety was formed by the National Convention as a barricade against the aggression of its opponents, both French and foreign. The Committee was convened (assembled) under the leadership of the most militant section of the revolutionary bourgeoisie — the Jacobins— and followed by the example of its most Radical influence and leader— Maximilien Robespierre.

4

The Guillotine

The political cartoon to the right: Robespierre pulling the cord to the guillotine on the executioner himself because there was noone else to do it.

The Terror was designed to fight the enemies of the revolution, to prevent counter-revolution from gaining ground. Most of the people rounded up were not aristocrats (noblemen), but ordinary people. A man (and his family) might go to the guillotine for saying something critical of the revolutionary government. If an informer happened to overhear, that was all the Revolutionary Tribunal needed. Civil liberties were suspended. The promises of the Declaration of the Rights of Man were forgotten. Terror was

the order of the day. In the words of Maximilien Robespierre, [T]here is only one way in which the murderous death agonies of the old society

and the bloody birth throes of the new society can be shortened, simplified and

concentrated, and that way is revolutionary terror. 5

Georges Danton sent to the Scaffold

George Danton was a lawyer, known for devotion to the rights of poor people. He was considered the most highly talented and successful speaker of the Jacobins club, was highly esteemed member of the National Convention, and was elected as one of nine members of the Committee of Public Safety

In 1794, at the height of Robespierre’s influence and the “Reign of Terror”, Danton was sent to the Guillotine by order of the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety. The image to the right is a painting of Robespierre (sitting down), Danton (standing gentlemen) and a member of the sans-culottes — an interaction of the political leaders that happened sometime before Danton was sentenced to death by members within his own political party. Using his talent as a Lawyer, at his trial Danton defended himself so skillfully that the authorities eventually denied him the right to speak. On the scaffold, Danton is remembered having said, “Don’t forget to show my head to the people. It’s well worth seeing”

6

The Directory & Napoleon

Eventually, the people realized that the state of terror could not continue. Fear kept Robespierre in power, but eventually, the more moderate members in the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety wouldn't take it anymore. The Reign of Terror, the radical phase of the French Revolution, ended on July 28, 1794, when Robespierre went to the guillotine (picture to the left). The Jacobin Club was banned and many of its leaders were executed or jailed.

French public opinion shifted dramatically after Robespierre’s death. People of all classes had grown weary of the Terror. They were also tired of the skyrocketing prices for bread, salt, and other necessities of life. In 1795, moderate leaders in the National Convention drafted a new plan of government, the third since 1789. It placed power firmly in the hands of the upper middle class and called for a two-house legislature and an executive body of five moderate men, known as the Directory… They also found the right general to command France’s armies — Napoleon Bonaparte — whose

leadership and importance would serve to bring an end to the revolution.