National Assembly
Impact of Storming of Bastille
• Great Fear:
– In the rural areas, peasants rose up in arms
against the nobility.
– Chateaux were looted and burned in an attempt
to destroy the feudal records of taxes & duties.
– Many nobles were killed or driven from their
homes.
Great Fear: Between June and the beginning of August
there were riots in the countryside. Peasants burned
their nobles' chateaux, monasteries and buildings
which housed public records. They particularly targeted
documents which contained records of their feudal
obligations. It was called "The Great Fear" and spread
quickly throughout France.
Between June and the beginning of August there were riots in the countryside. Peasants
burned their nobles' chateaux, monasteries and buildings which housed public records.
They particularly targeted documents which contained records of their feudal obligations.
It was called "The Great Fear" and spread quickly throughout France.
Rumors that drove the Great Fear
• Was it true that Marie Antoinette had
attempted to blow up the Assembly?
• Were there really foreign brigands from
England and Spain marching on rural France?
• Were foreign powers preparing to invade and
restore the king?
• Had Polish troops landed at Dunkirk?
Impact of Great Fear
• August 4, 1789-National Assembly started to
write a constitution to abolish the system of
feudal privileges.
• Taxes were now to be paid by everyone &
based on what your earned.
• All peasant obligations were abolished.
• They passed the Declaration of the Rights of
Man and Citizen
Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizen
• Proposed by Lafayette
• Based on the ideas of John Locke, Montesquieu, & the
Declaration of Independence
• Stated “Men are born free and remain free and equal in
rights…and the source of power resides in the people.”
• It guaranteed liberty, security, equal justice, fair taxes,
freedom of speech, press, and religion to all Frenchmen.
• Barely 300 words long
• Printed cheaply on one single sheet of paper, so it could be
distributed to everyone
• Symbol of the new French social order
Declaration of Rights of Man
Declaration of Rights of Man
• On August 26, 1789, the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen" was
passed by the National Assembly.
• This presented to the world a summary of the ideals and principles of the
Revolution, and justified the destruction of a government based upon absolutism
and privilege, and the establishment of a new regime based upon the inalienable
rights of individuals, liberty, and political equality.
• The Declaration became the preamble to the Constitution of 1791.
• It has been referred to in almost every single revolutionary movement since
1789, and has been translated into nearly all major languages.
• It is the basis of the constitutional foundations of many countries, including
France's Fifth Republic.
• Many ideas for the Declaration were from the Enlightenment, with the most
important influence being John Locke's Second Treatise of Government (first
published in England in 1690 at the time of the 'Glorious Revolution').
Declaration of the Rights of Man
• By 1791, the Declaration had been transformed from a legislative document into
a kind of political manifesto.
• No one assisted this process more than Tom Paine, whose Rights of Man became
one of the best-selling books in English history, and the bible of working-class
radicals.
• Paine reproduced the document, word for word, treating it as a sacred text that
ushered in a new epoch of world history.
• The King was never in favor of the Declaration and he refused to endorse it
because he thought its clauses were too ambiguous.
• He only sanctioned it under popular pressure on October fifth and sixth, 1791.
• Since then, it has been adopted by all kinds of political groups, and has been used
both to justify revolution and also to suppress it.
• British cartoon making
fun of the French
Revolution and
Declaration of Rights of
Man and Citizen
The tables were
turned. The French
Revolution had
given the first and
second estates less
power than the
third estate. The
peasant now rides
on the backs of
the clergy and
nobility, instead of
supporting them.
He carries the
results of a hunt,
which was
forbidden in the
old regime, and
says vive le roi
(the king) and vive
la nation
Constitution of 1791
• From July 6th, consecutive
committees of the assembly, staffed
mainly by lawyers worked hard to
construct the document.
• Finished in September of 1791, it was
prefaced by the Declaration of the
Rights of Man, voted in on August
26th of 1789.
• The constitution of 1791 was far
from a meager regularization of
existing laws and practices, as
sensible deputies had first wanted.
• The monarchy was certainly
preserved, with conventional
aspects, but royal power was
carefully restricted. Louis became the
first 'functionary' of the state.
• A permanent legislature, which the
king could not disband, would make
laws.
• The king was given a suspensive
refusal over legislation that could
postpone endorsement for up to
five years, even though Mirabeau
had proposed a permanent veto.
• The monarch ran the executive
power that would implement the
laws; it was intensely disbelieved,
because it might provide
opportunities for a renewal of
despotism.
•
Constitution of 1791
• Reorganized the government into three branches of government---system of
checks and balances
• The executive was the King
–
–
–
–
conduct foreign affairs
appoint ambassadors
propose war
Moved royal family from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in Paris
• It was a constitutional monarchy.
• The legislative branch was the National Assembly
–
–
–
–
–
freely elected
initiated & voted on all laws
fixed taxes
controlled expenditures
declared war
• The judicial branch consisted of popularly elected judges.
–
–
–
–
Standardized the court system.
Abolished the sale of judicial office.
Juries were now citizen filled.
Abolished the use of torture.
•
"The Roman Aristocrat"
•
The fattened clergyman and the well–
bedecked nobleman go off unbothered
while the figure in the foreground
assesses carefully the value of a
commoner.
This complex image also includes a
pig—likely a symbol for Louis XVI—
with the cleric and the noble.
Thus the print clearly attacks the upper
classes and likely the monarch.
But there is more. Specifically, the
National Assembly had set a means
test for voters, and a higher one for
prospective officeholders. S
o the gigantic female is measuring the
commoner for his right to participate
in the new revolutionary society.
This then is also a critique of the
National Assembly.
Who, then, is the figure in the
foreground? Perhaps it is the
revolutionary legislature, represented
here as an arrogant Roman Senate, a
clearly oligarchical body.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Weaknesses of the Constitution of
1791
• The chronic weakness of the executive and the unpopularity
of the king's ministers, Louis himself felt, made the
constitution not viable.
• After his escape attempt and capture at Varennes in June
1791, some modifications were made to reinforce his
position, but they failed to reassure him and his acceptance,
on September 14th, was half-hearted.
• The constitution, after so much debate and trouble, lasted
only eleven months
Additional Political Reforms of the
National Assembly
• All Frenchmen had basic rights of citizenship,
but the right to hold office & vote was based
on persons who owned property & paid taxes.
• This eliminated several million from voting.
• Constitution of 1791
• Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Additional Political Reforms by the
National Assembly
• Moved royal palace from Versailles to the
Tuileries.
Tuileries Palace/Louvre
• "Long Live Liberty"
•
•
•
•
Cartoonists extrapolated
more and more on a new
Louis as the Revolution went
along.
Here, a rather rumpled King,
dressed more like a
shopkeeper than a monarch,
opens a cage to let liberty
out.
Many scholars argue that the
King was already desacralized
as much as a couple of
decades before the
Revolution.
Still Louis is associated with
liberty here, and this
treatment was mild
compared with the personal
attacks and the execution
that would follow
This print depicts the Third Estate—represented by the peasant at the rear of
the chariot, the worker leading the horse, and the merchant driving—
delivering to the National Assembly a petition listing "abuses" to be
remedied.
"Abuses to Suppress"
print depicts the Third Estate—represented by the peasant at the rear of the chariot, the worker leading the horse, and the merchant driving—delivering to the National Assembly a petition listing "abuses"
Source: mfr 88.133
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
• On November 27, 1790, the deputies passed a decree saying that an
oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution must be taken by all
bishops, parish priests, and their assistants.
• Those who refused to take it were forced to leave their posts.
• On the 26 of December, King Louis signed that decree.
• This was a decision he would regret until the end of his life.
• The members of the assembly thought that all prelates would
eventually swear the oath.
• They were wrong. Only eight did.
• Pope Pius VI was against the oath, which did not become known to
the public until April of 1791.
•
•
•
•
•
"Mea Culpa of the Pope"
Although the
revolutionaries long
regarded the Pope as an
enemy, their anger was
stoked significantly by
the papal decision to
decree as unacceptable
the Civil Constitution of
the Clergy.
This decision, hardly
unexpected given the
way that the
revolutionary settlement
upended church
tradition and papal
authority, apparently
weighed heavily on Louis
XVI.
Some scholars believe it
was this decision in
Rome that turned the
King down the path of no
compromise.
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
• July 1790
• Since the government now paid the clergy’s salaries,
it declared that the people will now elect their
bishops.
• Priest had to give an oath of loyalty to the
constitution just like other government officials.
• This split the Catholic clergy into two groups: those
who took the oath & those who formed the counterrevolutionary groups.
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
• Throughout history, the Church had owned 6% of the National lands.
• Louis XVI and Necker decided to remove the Church from society and give the
Church Lands to the people.
• By doing this, the people would be happier.
• The changes in the Church which followed the seizure of its possessions is a
perfect example of the feeling of the National Assembly.
• The Bishops argued that the legislation affected the church so profoundly, in
spiritual as well as temporal matters, that individual clerics could not be expected
to give their consent until the whole church had considered it.
• In practice, this meant waiting for papal approval.
• Departments were very anxious to fill empty clerical posts, and the first sales of
church lands under the provisions of the law nationalizing church property on
November 2, 1789, were due to begin in the autumn.
Political Cartoon: “Reducing the
Clergy”
Impact of the Civil Constitution of
the Clergy
• The relations between the jurors and the nonjurors became increasingly bitter as the hope
that the church would sanctify and back the
Revolution faded farther and farther away,
just like to the hopes for national unity: the
forces of the reaction and the counterrevolution could now argue that they fought
to defend the church and religion from attack
by the Revolutionaries.
• A cartoon
representing Louis
XVI as "King
James" with one
face turned
towards the
Constitution and
the other towards
the non-juring
clergy.
Other Mobs & Riots
• October 5, 1789: Women’s Bread March on Versailles
• King refused to approve the Declaration of Rights of Man &
bashed the revolution at a banquet.
• In response to this insult of the Revolution, a crowd of housewives
marched from Paris to Versailles saying they were upset about the
high cost of bread.
• The housewives presented their demands to the National
Assembly peacefully.
• That night, a mob stormed the palace and broke into the royal
bedchambers.
• The royal family barely escaped.
• Two of the King’s bodyguards were murdered and beheaded and
their heads were carried around on pikes.
• After this, the royal family and National Assembly moved the seat
of government from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in Paris.
Women’s March on Versailles
Edmund Burke wrote of the attack
on Marie Antoinette’s bedchamber
A band of cruel ruffians and assassins,
reeking…with blood, rushed into the chamber of
the queen and pierced with an hundred strokes
and poniards the bed, from whence this
persecuted woman had but just time to fly almost
naked and through ways unknown to the
murderers had escaped to seek refuge at the feet
of a king and husband, not secure of his own life
for a moment.”
• “
mémorable de Versailles, le lundi
5 Octobre 1789. [Memorable Day
at Versailles, October 5, 1789]
Caption: Nos Modernes Amazones
glorieuses de leurs Victoires
revinrent à Cheval sur les Canons,
avec plusieurs Messieurs de la
Garde Nationale, tenant des
branches de Peupliers au bruit des
cris réitérés de Vive la Nation, Vive
le Roi. [View English translation]
Source: Museum of the French
Revolution 90.46.129
6. Journée
Economic Reforms of the National
Assembly
November 1789
•
• Confiscated the land & wealth of the Church to pay off debts
• Government now took the responsibility of paying for education, social services,
& salaries of the clergy.
• Church land was used as a security for additional loans to avoid bankruptcy.
• Assignats
– Government bonds could be exchanged for a new paper currency called
Assignats but there was a 5% interest rate on them.
– Assignats were only used to buy Church land and were then destroyed.
– After a while, the assignats were treated as regular currency. But lost 25% of
their face value.
• The use of Assignats created a new class of property owners loyal to the
revolution.
• Uniform system for weights & measures
• Abolished guild restrictions.
• Abolished customs transported within the country.
Flight to Varennes
• On the 20 June 1791, Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, their children
and closest servants fled Paris in secret, hoping to reach the
Luxembourg border and to join the Austrian troops there.
• Unfortunately for the King, the royal party made it only as far as
the small town of Varennes.
• A man called Drouet, who was a local postmaster, recognized them.
Louis was brought back to Paris on June 22.
• Surrounded by the National Guard as they passed through the
streets of the capital, the people watched the royal family with
silence and hostility.
• The King had left a proclamation behind explaining his rejection of
the Revolution's "complete anarchy": many thought he had
renounced the right to lead the French nation.
The Arrest of the Royal Family at
Varennes
Royal Family’s Flight to Varennes
• The King had been communicating with his brother-inlaw, the Holy Roman Emperor in Austria to raise an
army to take back control of France.
• They plotted their escape.
• But they were intercepted, and thousands of people
lined the road to watch their forced return by the
National Guard.
• Anti-revolutionary documents were found. The people
realized the King would never work with the revolution
• Now the royal family were prisoners.
Royal Flight to Varennes
• The Flight to Varennes (June 20-21, 1791) was a significant episode in the
French Revolution during which King Louis XVI of France and his
immediate family were unsuccessful in their attempt to escape from the
radical agitation of the Jacobins in Paris.
• Their destination was the fortress town of Montmédy in northeastern
France, a Royalist stronghold from which the King hoped to initiate a
counter-revolution.
• This represents a turning point after which popular hostility towards the
monarchy as an institution.
• The various disguises included: Louis- a dress and a black wig, Marie- a
servant dressed in a plain grey dress and a veil, and Count Axel Fersendressed as a coachman for Marie.
• Marie in the end was the one to be discovered. She was supposed to be a
humble servant, but she still acted like a stuck up royal when they were
inspecting her fake passport.
• "Louis XVI
Stopped in his
Flight at
Varennes"
• This romantic
English
painting of the
King’s flight
suggests only a
few feet
separated the
King from
escape.
Royal Flight to Varennes
Public’s Reaction to Their Escape
• When the King and Queen returned, the public spat on
the King and tore the Queen’s clothing.
• Messages were written on the walls of the city. One of
them was: “Anyone clapping for the King will be whipped;
Anyone booing the King will be hanged.”
• When the new Emperor of Austria threatened to invade
France and set the Queen and King free, the people acted
like a mob to arrest them and defend their city.
• The mob killed the guards and anyone else in sight and in
the palace including the maids.
• Louis and Marie were thrown in prison.
Flight to Varennes
Political Cartoon on Louis
Impact of the Flight to Varennes
• Despite this treachery, the King was not punished.
• The Assembly, wanting neither a Regency nor to redraft their
brand new Constitution, declared that he had been
kidnapped; his unacceptance of the Revolution, they
claimed, had been manufactured by his advisors.
• The Constitution of 1791, which passed in August, confirmed
the King's position.
• His use of the royal veto to block the Legislative Assembly's
measures against priests and emigrés, however, continued
to undermine his standing.
• The family of pigs is
brought back to the
pigsty!
Legislative Assembly
And Political Parties of the French
Revolution
Reaction to the Constitution of 1791: Why the
National Assembly Stepped Down?
• The lower classes felt betrayed by the Constitution of
1791.
• It did not live up to the expectations set by the
Declaration of Rights of Man.
• Most of the peasants and sans-culottes did not
qualify to vote or hold office under the Constitution
of 1791.
• This led to a split between the middle class and the
lower class.
• The lower class felt the old feudal system had now
been replaced with a new aristocracy based upon
wealth.
Reaction to the Constitution of 1791:
Formation of the Legislative Assembly
• A new election was held.
• If you had been a representative to the National
Assembly, you could not serve on the Legislative
Assembly.
• A new group of delegates was elected---most
dissatisfied by the Constitution of 1791.
• The Legislative Assembly was split into political
factions or parties over the different goals for the
Revolution.
Reaction to the Constitution of 1791: Why
the political parties developed?
• The actions of the National Assembly had
splintered the revolutionaries.
• Some were happy with the moderate reforms.
• Others wanted more radical reforms.
• Some wanted to return to the old way of
doing things.
Emigres or Royalists
• They were the most conservative group.
• They were made up of nobles and clergy
members that had fled the country because of
the revolution.
• They wanted to undo the revolution and
restore the Old Regime.
• They helped to organize European nations to
fight the French revolutionaries.
Emigres or Royalists
• Key Figures:
a)Louis XVI
b)Marie Antoinette
c)Comte d’Artois
d)Comte d’Provence
e)”Tonunneau” Mirabeau
Gironde/Girondin Political Party
• Dominated the newly formed Legislative Assembly from
1792- October 1793---overall they supported the
Constitutional Monarchy
• Beliefs were:
a)favored a republican government
b)were federalists and wanted a government set up like
the USA
c)extremely idealistic group
d)wanted to spread the ideals of the revolution all over
Europe
e)believed in Rousseau’s ideals of personal liberty
f)inexperienced in the practical dealings of government
Gironde/Girondin Party
• Key Leaders:
a)Brissot
b)The Rolands
c)Marquis de Condorcet
d)Charlotte Corday
Jacobin Political Party
• Most radical of the
political parties.
• Beliefs:
a)wanted to execute the
King to remove possible
threat
b)wanted to allow all
people to vote
c)thought it was okay to
use terror to force
people into accepting
the radical ideas
Jacobin Party
• Key Figures:
a)Jean Paul Marat-publisher of the propaganda
newspaper the Friend of the People
b)Danton-a lawyer and powerful orator; okay with
using terror until it got out of hand. He called for it
to end and was beheaded by the guillotine.
c)Maximilien Robespierre-wanted a republic based
on the virtues of the Revolution. Became the
dictator during the National Convention.
Economic Problems Facing Legislative
Assembly
• Inflation, unemployment, and falling
wages
• Shortages of food as merchants held
back produce to raise prices.
• Girondins did not want to face the severe
economic problems, so they tried to
distract the French people by spreading
the revolution to the rest of Europe
through war.
Declaration of War
War on Austria, Prussia, & Belgium
• “Crusade” to spread Liberty, Equality, & Fraternity
• Legislative Assembly declared war on April 20, 1792.
• The King supported the war, but for a very different reason.
He hoped the European powers would defeat the
revolutionaries and restore the Old Regime.
• Lafayette supported the war, because he was ambitious to
become a war hero and gain national leadership.
• Marat, & other radicals, hoped the war would completely
destroy the remains of the monarchy in France.
• At first, the French Army was badly defeated by the
Austrians.
• Many of the best officers were nobles who had fled the
country.
War on Austria, Prussia, & Belgium
• The French Army’s soldiers were poorly
trained & undisciplined.
• The Girondins were shocked they were losing,
& they tried to blame it on the King & other
“enemies of the revolution.”
• In response to this, the King fired the Girondin
minister & vetoed the decrees against the
emigres & non-juring priests.
War in Europe
Effects of the War
• The sans-culottes demonstrated in the streets for limits on
the price of food.
• The Legislative Assembly was losing control to the hands of
angry mobs.
• Food riots broke out in the countryside.
• When the King vetoed the Legislative Assembly’s call for
20,000 volunteer soldiers, the sans-culottes and peasants
took action.
• A mob of 8,000 Parisians attacked the morning session of
the Legislative Assembly armed with pikes, clubs, & guns.
• They then moved on to the Tuileries Palace where they
screamed at the King and forced him to wear a red liberty
cap.
• Eventually the mob drifted away.
Effects of the War
• Austria was set to invade France.
• The National Guard, the Federes, marched to Paris in July
1792.
• They were not there to maintain order, but to take violence
against anyone they believed opposed the revolution.
• Radical journalists, like Marat, encouraged the violent
behavior with inflammatory articles.
• They demanded “people’s justice” and death for “traitors
and enemies of the revolution.”
Effects of War
Effects of the War
• On August 10, 1792, the mobs attacked the
Tuileries Palace & massacred the royal
bodyguards.
• This was attack was now as important as the
Storming of the Bastille.
• Due to this violence, the Legislative Assembly
removed Louis as King and imprisoned the
whole royal family.
• New elections were to be held for a new
legislative body known as the National
Convention.
Attack on Tuileries Palace
Siege of the Tuileries"
This hand–tinted engraving depicts the storming of the Tuileries Palace by what appear to be
small groups of well–organized soldiers of the Marseilles National Guard. The positive image of
the sans–culottes is reinforced by commentaries that attribute their action to the "despotism"
of Louis XVI and the "treason" of his agents against France.
Effects of the War
• In the meantime, an executive council of 6 ministers
were appointed to run France. 5 were Girondins. 1
was Danton, the founder of the Cordeliers Club.
• Danton was willing to sacrifice anything for the
revolution.
• Meanwhile, the war continued to go badly.
• By the end of August 1792, the Austrian, Prussian,
and émigré troops were crossing into France through
the Netherlands.
• It seemed like Paris was going to fall.
Battle of Valmy
• On September 2, 1792, Danton gave a passionate
speech that called for all citizens to defend Paris.
• As church bells tolled, he said: “It is time,
gentlemen, for the Assembly to become a true
council of war.
• The bells are a signal to charge against the
enemies of our country…To defeat them, we need
boldness, and always boldness, and France will then
be saved.”
• Thousands of Parisians marched to the town of
Valmy and defeated the invaders.
• On September 20, 1792, they beat the foreigners.
Impact of Danton’s Speech
• Danton had thrown out a challenge to all the
countries who were against the French.
• “The kings in alliance to try to intimidate us.
We hurl at their feet, as a gage of battle, the
French king’s head.”
Battle of Valmy
September Massacres
• But the nationalistic rage that Danton’s speech went
beyond the Battle of Valmy.
• The sans-culottes lashed out at revolutionary
enemies they saw at home.
• For 5 days, the bloodthirsty mobs attacked &
butchered imprisoned priests, nobles, & royalists.
• 1,200 alone were killed in Paris.
• It spread all over France to cities like Rheims, Lyons,
& Marseilles.
• Robespierre, Danton, & the Girondins did nothing to
stop it.
September Massacres
September Massacres in Paris
• Saturday, Sept 1: names of clerical prisoners were
drawn up and a deportation decree passed the
following day
• But the wholesale slaughter of criminals imprisoned
at the Concergerie and the clergy at the monastery
of the Carmelites had already begun
• 60 common criminals were killed by mobs at the
Bernardins prison
• The local authorities and governments did nothing to
stop the slaughter
"Massacre of the Prisoners of St. Germain Abbey”
Massacre at the Carmelite Convent
• 150 priests had been held prisoners for a few
weeks.
• The mob broke in, and the Archbishop fell to
his knees, begging for mercy, and was slashed
across the face by a sword.
• One prisoner tried to escape up the chimney
so the jailer shot his musket up the void.
When this did not work, he lit a fire and when
the choking man fell down into the hearth, he
was finished off with swords and hatchets.
September Massacres
• Gangs of citizens broke into prisons and
hospitals where women, the poor, and the
insane were held.
• Gangs of citizens broke in with any weapons
that had and set about killing.
• They would pause every now and then to eat
and drink wine, using the mutilated bodies as
tables and chairs.
“Massacre of the Priests"
•This image, also reproduced
from the newspaper
R*volutions de Paris, shows
crowds massacring refractory
clergy and prisoners.
•The panels depict the former
convent of the Carmelites
(where 163 were killed) and the
prison known as the Force,
which had formerly been used
to incarcerate prostitutes,
where approximately 300
defrocked clergy were executed.
September Massacres
• At the Conciergerie, which held a load of
prisoners awaiting trial, 378 out of 488
prisoners were hacked to pieces and piled in
bloody, twitchy heaps.
• As the carts carrying the corpses away were
loaded, some of the women who were helping
stopped every now and again to dance
amongst the slippery bodies.
Massacre of Priests
September Massacres at Saint
Firmin
• September 3 at 5:30AM: a mob arrived at Saint Firmin
• They rounded up the prisoners and took some out into the
street to execute them.
• Priests were brought to the courtyards and slaughtered
with pikes, sabers, and clubs.
• The priests found on upper levels were killed outright.
• Francois and two other priests were hurled from the third
floor windows to the ground below
• Some women gouged out the eyes from cadavers with scissors
Massacre des prisonniers.
[Massacre of the Prisoners]
Caption: Massacre des prisonniers
de la Prison du Châtelet et de la
Maison de Bicétre le deux et trois
Septembre et jours suivantes au
nombre d'environ huit cents
Source: Museum of the French
Revolution L88.343
Medium: Etching
Dimensions: 9 x 15 cm
Commentary (numbers refer to
pages in essays):
Focuses on a single episode –
Cameron, 1
Precedents – Censer-Hunt, 3; DayHickman, Discussion F
Violence – Censer-Hunt, 1
12.
September Massacres at Versailles
• Massacre of the prisoners being transported
through Versailles
• The mob then broke into the make-shift prison in
the queen’s stables and massacred them.
• 7 or 8 men superficially examined the jailer’s record
book and condemned…”this monster, sold to the
court, …an aristocrat
• Galoy was taken to the kitchen where his legs were
broken with an iron bar and his skull smashed
September Massacres Totals
• Victims were stripped
of their clothes & their
naked bodies thrown
into carts to be taken to
the Vaugirard
Cemetery.
• Leaving a trail of blood
on the ground.
• Also tossed into wells
or buried in shallow
graves.
• Totals are not certain, but…
• 74 priests and 1 layman
killed at Villette
• 32 priests killed at Saint
Germain
• No priests, but female
prostitutes, criminals,
mentally ill, and orphan
girls were raped and
slaughtered at Salpetiere
• In Paris, the estimate is
1400
Political Cartoon on September
Massacres
Next Step in the Revolution
• National Convention met for the first time on
September 21, 1792.
• It abolished the monarchy and declared
France a republic.
• In November 1792, the National Convention
declared it would help any other nation revolt
against their monarchy.
• Now the revolution was in the hands of
radicals and mobs.
Victory of Liberty, Equality, and
Fraternity