French+Revolution

Questions to Alexander Hamiliton

Events that Led up to the Revolution: On October 18, 1598, Henry IV created the Edict of Nantes, which was a law that made religion tolerance possible. There was now a separatation between church and state. Louis XIV wanted to build the Versailles Palace, which would symbolize absolute monarchy. He also wanted something that would make remind everyone of his reign, which became true because he spent one hundred million dollares on it. Louis XIV, in 1685, abolished the Edict of Nantes, which resulted in the fleeing of the Hugenots. The abolishment of the Edict of Nantes ruined the separation of church and state. The people were now limited to their freedom of religion. In 1715, Louis XIV died and left his poor country with his debt from his palace and his support of the arts.

Events: In 1774, Louis XV died and left France in a large debt from all the wars. France decided that the only way to get out of debt was to tax heavily, which is what Britain did to the American Colonists. In 1788, the people were becoming angry because of the unfair tax system. In may of 1789, Louis XVI called Estates-General to a meeting in Versailles to approve a tax plan. The Third Estate, or the common people, banded together and called themselves the National Assembly. On July 14, 1789, the people of France stormed the the Bastille Prision. There were only seven prisoners at the time, but a lot of damage was done. Bastille was captured and the rebellion began. The Third Estate declared the end of feudalism and serfdom in France. Feudalism is a social system that gives allegiance to the people that served in the war. Serfdom is kind of like slavery. For the proper definition, it is social and economic status of unfree peasants under feudalism. The National Assembly, or the peasants, wrote and published the Declaration of the Rights of Man on August 27, 1789. The Declaration of the Rights of Man was related to the Declaration of Independence because it talks about equal rights for all man kind, freedom of speech (communication), rights, and property. On October 5, 1789, it was the women's turn to rebel. The women marched into Versailles to push the royal family back to Paris. This is a time in histroy where the women were accounted for the success of a war. They had about seven thousand angry, hungry women that carried cannons and other weaponary that could kill somebody or cause a lot of damage. This march frightened many people because everyone knows that angering a women will only result in mass destruction. Later on, in 1790, the Civil Constitution of the Clegry was passed. The Civil Constitution of the Clegry gave more power to the people and the government, than the church. This new constitution took away the land of the church, and it also decreased the amount of bishops from 135 to 83. The Church was losing their power and influence over the government slowly as the French Revolution carried on. The Constitution of 1791 was voted upon adn accepted by the people. The Constitution of the Rights of Man was the preamble of France's Constitution. The solution to this new constitution was to create a new one that allowed the king to maintain his Monarchy, but he would have a legislative body, Congress, which will have keep the king's actions and decisions in check. France declared war on Austria on August 20, 1792. In 1792, the National Assembly held their first actual meeting. The revolution was turning the favor of the people now. Louis XVI was sent to be killed witht he guillotine on January 21, 1793. Then the Reign of Terror struck. The Reign of Terror was a political conflict between the Girondins and the Jacobins. This Reign lasted for about four years and two months. There were many people killed and injured by the Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror was led by Maximilien Robespierre and his followers the Jacobins. The Girondins were attacked without any knowledge prior to the Reign of Terror. Maximilien Robespierre died on July 28, 1794 from the guillotine. A new constitution was written in 1795 by the National Convention. The new constitution created a Directory that were the excutive body of France. In 1799, the Directory fell after Napoleon Bonaparte came to power. The fall of the Directory ended the French Revolution on November 9, 1799.

Supporter of the French Revolution Thomas Jefferson was an avid supporter of the French Revolution. He was the American Minister to France during the American Revolution and spent most of the revolution in France. He even offered his house in France up to the French revolutionaries to use as a meeting house. He believed that the French Revolution was just a continuation of the American one and that liberty was going to keep on spreading. He stayed an avid supporter of the spirit of the revolution, and believed that bloodshed is a small price to pay for liberty that will go on well after the revolution. He even drafted an example “bill of rights” for the French to use when the deliberations of the end of the revolution were going on. Jefferson’s love for liberty didn’t stop after the French Revolution. He believed that liberty was an unalienable right, and that government was the biggest threat to liberty.

"This ball of liberty, I believe most piously, is now so well in motion that it will roll round the globe, at least the enlightened part of it, for light & liberty go together. It is our glory that we first put it into motion." 

//“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” //  "…and was ever such a prize won with so little innocent blood? My own affections have been deeply wounded by some of the martyrs to this cause, but rather than it should have failed, I would have seen half the earth desolated. Were there but an Adam and Eve left in every country, left free, it would be better than as it now is." 