Chapter 21 Part 2

1. Chapter 21Part 2 The French Revolution

2. July 5, 1788 • The King called for a meeting of the Estates General for the following spring • The king asked that all parties study the tax situation and make proposals to fix the economy and pay off debt.

3. The Estates General May, 1789 • Had only met twice before: 1302 (its inception) & 1614 (called by Marie de Medici while regent for her son, Louis XIII for support against pretenders) • Much excitement throughout France

4. Cahiers de doleances • The king requested that each estate come up with a list of suggestions and grievances to be presented to the king

5. Common Agreements of All Three Estates • France should have a constitutional monarchy • Individual liberties must be guaranteed by law • Position of Parish Clergy had to be improved • Abolition of internal trade barriers

6. The Main Divisive Issue: • How the Three Estates should vote • Traditionally, each estate had one vote (and Clergy and Nobility voted together…so, THEY were exempt of taxes and the Third Estate carried the burden)

7. Louis XVI • Doubled the # of the representatives of the third estate as a gesture to its size BUT…still had only one vote among the Estates General • Representatives of each estate were elected • Almost all male commoners 25 or older could vote • Most reps were well-educated and prosperous members of the middle class • No peasant or artisan delegates

8. The Paris Parlement • Ruled that voting in the Estates General would follow the tradition of each estate voting separately and each estate having one vote • Was not acceptable to the Third estate

9. Abbe Sieyes • The most influential writer of the Third Estate • Wrote What is the Third Estate? • Claimed that the Third Estate should have the power in France • That the Nobility should be abolished • Said that the Third Estate represented the majority of French society • Cited Rousseau’s Social Contract

10. May 5, 1789 • Each estate was ordered to meet and vote separately • The Third Estate insisted that they meet and all vote together • Led to a six-week deadlock • By this time some parish priests joined with the Third Estate

11. The Age of Montesquieu • June 17, 1789 The Third Estate declared itself the true National Assembly of France • Then Louis XVI locked them out of their meeting place • The Third Estate met in an indoor tennis court

12. The Tennis Court Oath • The Third Estate swore an oath to continue to meet until it gave France a constitution • So…the Third Estate assumed sovereign power on behalf of the nation • Louis XVI called for 18,000 troops (from Paris to come to Versailles)

13. More Defections from the First and Second Estates • Caused Louis XVI to recognize the National Assembly (June 27) after dissolving the Estates General • The National Assembly was dominated by the bourgeoisie • Now the king was allied with the nobility against the Third Estate and the Third Estate feared the nobles more than ever

14. July 14, 1789The Storming of the Bastille • Revolutionaries in Paris began to respond to food shortages and soaring (25%) bread prices • Also unemployment • Also fear of military repression (the 18,000 troops called to Versailles were mobilizing in Paris and Paris mobs believed the troops were getting ready to move against them

15. A Very Real Fear • Of subjugation by aristocratic landowners and grain speculators • Grain prices were so high that there was no $ left to purchase manufactured goods • Caused industrial collapse • 150,000 of 600,000 workers in Paris were out of work

16. Workers and tradesmen • Began to arm themselves in response to the troop mobilization • July 14th an angry mob stormed the Bastille in search of gunpowder and weapons • The heads of the mayor and Prison’s governor were put on pikes and paraded through the streets

17. Marquis de Lafayette • Was appointed commander of the city’s armed forces by the mob • Paris was lost to the king • So…the storming of the Bastille saved the National Assembly (from the 18,000 troops)

18. The Great Fear (1789) • The spirit of the rebellion in Paris spread to the countryside and sparked much violence • Peasants attacked manor houses trying to destroy legal records of their feudal obligations • Middle-class landowners were also attacked

19. A National Guard Militia • Was created by the middle class to protect their property

20. August 4, 1789 • The National Assembly voted to abolish feudalism in France and declared equality of taxation for all classes • This was an attempt to stop the violence • Amounted to a peaceful social revolution • Ended existing serfdom, exclusive hunting rights for nobles, fees for justice, village monopolies, the corvee, and other dues

21. The Peasants • Realized great benefits

22. The Constitution • Ending feudalism was one of the two great social changes of the Revolution as feudal society was gone • The other was the abolition of guilds (later)

23. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (8-26-89) • Was influenced by American constitutional ideas • Guaranteed due process of law; a citizen was innocent until proven guilty • Sovereignty of the people

24. Enlightenment Philosophy of the Constitution • “Men are born and remain free and equal in their rights.” • Natural rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression (Locke) • Law is expressed by the General Will (Rousseau) • Freedom of expression and religion

25. The Constitution • Liberty was defined as freedom to do anything not injurious to others, which was to be determined only by law • Taxes to be raised only with common consent • All public servants were accountable for their conduct while in office

26. The Constitution • Separation of powers through separate branches • Confiscation of property from private citizens had to be done with fair compensation • “Citizen” applied to all French people regardless of class

27. The Question of the Monarch’s Power • Was responsible for the unraveling of the National Assembly’s unity • This happened AFTER the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man

28. Womendid not share equal rights • Women could not vote or hold office • Males had the advantage in family law, property rights and education • Very few believed in gender equality • Condorcet was one who DID support gender equality

29. Olympe de Gouges • Wrote Rights of Women (1791) • She followed the 17 articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and applied each to women • She also supported a woman’s right to divorce, to control property in marriage, equal access to education and civilian careers and public employment

30. Mary Wollstonecraft (English) • 1792 wrote Vindication of the Rights of Women • Her ideas were similar to those of Gouges • Madame de Stael: ran a salon, read and wrote widely • Deplored the subordination of women to men and the fact that the Revolution did nothing to change it

31. The Women’s March to Versailles • October 1789 • Due to shortages of Bread • Jean-Paul Marat incited 7,000 women with the Paris National Guard marched 12 miles from Paris to Versailles and demanded that the King address their economic problems

32. Part of the problem • Was that the price of bread was so high it resulted in a reduced demand for garments which devastated women in the French putting-out system…unemployment was very high • Marie Antoinette also played a part • Women invaded the royal apartments at Versailles and slaughtered body guards while searching for the royal family

33. The Women’s March to Versailles • The King and Queen were forced to move to the Tuleries (royal palace) in Paris • Louis XVI signed decrees guaranteeing that bread in Paris would be sold at reasonable prices • The National Assembly also moved to Paris and, like the King, was intimidated by the Parisians

34. The King AND the National Assembly • Made certain that bread was available for reasonable cost • Many of the more conservative members of the Assembly began to drop out of the government as they were disillusioned by mob violence

35. Secularization of Religion • Church property was confiscated and sold to peasants….the money was used to pay off the National Debt • BUT the schools and religious orders who had their land taken now had no way to pay for feeding the poor in their parishes

36. 1790 The Civil Constitution of the Clergy Created a national church with 83 bishops and dioceses Was the biggest mistake of the National Assembly Convents and monasteries were abolished All clergymen were to be paid by the state and elected (based on citizenship and property qualifications)

37. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy • Clergy were elected by everyone (males)…Protestants, Jews, agnostics, etc. • Clergy was forbidden to accept the authority of the Pope • The Clergy was forced to take an oath of loyalty to the state (new government) since the Pope had condemned the Revolution

38. Result • France was deeply divided over religion • The Pope condemned the act as a way to undermine the Church • ½ of the French Priests refused to take the oath • They were called The Refractory Clergy and were supported by the King, aristocrats, peasants and working class (and they were jailed)

39. Government Reform • France became a Constitutional Monarchy with a unicameral legislative assembly • The Middle Class controlled the government through an indirect method of voting ( property qualifications for voting = middle class voters) • ½ of all males over 25 were eligible to vote • The Nobility was abolished

40. Government Reform • The National Assembly divided France into 83 departments governed by elected officials • Replaced the old provincial boundary lines • A new system of law courts gave France a uniform administrative structure (83 dioceses, departments, and judicial districts)

41. Government Reform • Weakness: Local communities enforced national law at their own discretion…proved to be ruinous

42. Economic Reform • Tended to favor the middle class rather than the lowest classes • The Metric System replaced a sloppy system of weights and measures • La Chapelier Law: outlawed strikes, workers coalitions and assemblies of workers

43. Economic Reform • Assignats: became the new paper currency • Former Church property was used to guarantee the value of the Assignats • Much of the land was sold to peasants and $ was used to pay the national debt • Eventually assignats became worthless

44. The Flight to Varennes • June 1791 The Royals tried to escape France • Louis was trying to avoid being forced to support the new constitution • Louis intended to raise a counter-revolutionary army with émigré noblemen and get help from foreign powers (Austrian HRE , Leopold II, was Marie Antoinette's brother)

45. They were captured • And forced to return to Paris • Became true prisoners of the Paris mob • King was forced to accept the constitutional monarchy