Warm-Up Question
What were some of the
causes of the French
Revolution?
The French Revolution
Standard - 7-3.2
The French Revolution
 Chapter 16 (pages 253-256)
Enlightenment Thinkers
 Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke
spoke of ideas like human rights.
 Their strongest idea was people’s right to
rebel against the_______________.
American Revolution
 American colonists challenged their home
country Great Britain.
 They protested taxes!
 1776 Declaration of Independence was sent
to England.
 France sent nobles then soldiers, sailors and
weapons to help.
Declaration of Independence
 The Declaration of Independence was written
by_________________, and was issued by Congress on
July 4, 1776
Boston Massacre
 At the Boston Massacre, _______________fired
into a crowd of protestors and killed 5 people.
Boston Tea Party
 At the Boston Tea Party, _____________ protested the
Tea Act by dumping British Tea into the Boston Harbor.
End of the War
 With French help, the Colonist defeated the
British at ___________in 1781.
Society under the Old Regime
• In France, people were divided into three estates
– First Estate
• High-ranking members of the Church
• Privileged class
– Second Estate
• Nobility
• Privileged class
– Third Estate
• Everyone else – from peasants in the countryside to
wealthy bourgeoisie merchants in the cities
• Unprivileged class
Journal Entry Question #1
How was the French
Revolution a change brought
about by the Enlightenment and
the American Revolution?
Journal Entry Question #2
What is the purpose of a
constitution?
The Causes
 #1 Unfair Social Divisions
– First Estate: Clergy, or church officials
– Second Estate: Aristocracy (nobles)
– Third Estate: Bourgeoisie and peasants
 #2 Unequal Tax Burdens
– The third estate had no voice in
government owned 10% of the land
and paid 100% of the taxes
The Causes
 #3 Government Debts
– Expensive wars
– Royal spending out of control
 #4 Financial Crisis
– Very High cost of living for the very
poor
Louis XVI – the King at the
outbreak of the French Revolution
 Louis XVI loaned
money and ships to the
Americans in their war
for independence – not
because he loved
democracy but
because he hated
England
 Louis XVI was
incapable of managing
his country in a crisis
The King’s family lived in luxury
 Louis XVI was a good
husband and father but
not a very good king
 He and his family
lived at Versailles and
knew nothing of the
suffering of the people
 The King’s family
spent millions on their
lifestyle while
peasants starved
The Palace of Versailles, home of the
Ancien Regime and symbol of all that
was wrong with France
The King didn’t listen
 Famine and disease
were running rampant
 The price of bread
doubled and the
women of Paris
marched on Versailles
 The Bread Riots and
the Women’s March
on Versailles got
Louis’s attention
On October 4, 1789, a crowd of women and some men,
marched toward Versailles, demanding to see "the
Baker," "the Baker's wife," and "the Baker's boy". The
King agreed to meet with some of the women and
promised to distribute all the bread in Versailles to the
crowd.
The National Guard arrived on the scene to take the
King back to Paris. This complicated matters. Some of
the crowd got into the Queen's quarters and Marie
Antoinette barely escaped by way of a secret passage to
the King's room. He agreed to address the people from
his balcony. "My friends," he said, "I will go to Paris
with my wife and my children."
This was a fatal mistake. It was the last time the King
saw Versailles.
Calling the Estates General - May 5, 1789
When the Estates General met, each estate solemnly marched into the hall at
Versailles. The third estate, dressed all in black, the nobility dressed in all their
finery and finally the clergy dressed in full regalia. The delegates of the third estate
insisted that the three orders meet together and that the vote be taken by head, rather
than by order. (Since there were far more delegates from the third estate, this plan
would give them a majority). The King refused to grant their request. The third
estate refused to budge.
The Tennis Court Oath
"The National Assembly, considering that it has been
summoned to establish the constitution of the kingdom. . .
decrees that all members of this assembly shall immediately
take a solemn oath not to separate. . . until the constitution of
the kingdom is established on firm foundations. . ." June 20,
1789
Storming the Bastille
 The Bastille was a
prison that held many
political prisoners.
 The mob wanted to
free the prisoners so
they stormed the
prison on July 14,
1789.
 Blood was shed –
there was no going
back now.
A New Revolutionary Spirit…
The Marquis de Lafayette, commander of the new
National Guard, combined the colors of the King
(white) and the colors of Paris (blue and red) for
his guardsmen's uniforms and from this came the
Tricolor, the new French flag.
First a marching song – then a
National Anthem – Le Marseillaise
“Come children of the Motherland, the day of
glory has arrived! Against us, the tyrant has
raised his bloody banner, has raised his bloody
banner! Don't you hear across our countryside
the roar of his merciless soldiers? They are
coming right into your arms to butcher your
friends and family! Citizens, to arms! Let's
march! March! So that our very fields shall
wash with their evil blood!”
The Marseillaise
The Movement needed a Slogan
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité: The French Revolution
Liberty - Freedom
Equality – No social classes
Fraternity - Brotherhood
Death of a King
 The King was beheaded January 21, 1793.
 The Queen was beheaded October 16, 1793.
 The young heir who would have been Louis
XVII died shortly thereafter.
After the death of Louis XVI in 1793, the Reign of
Terror began. The first victim was Marie Antoinette.
She had been imprisoned with her children after she
was separated from Louis. First they took her son
Louis Charles from her (often called the lost
dauphin, or Louis XVII). He disappeared under
suspicious circumstances. Then she led off a parade
of prominent and not-so-prominent citizens to their
deaths. The guillotine, the new instrument of
egalitarian justice, was put to work. Public
executions were considered educational. Women
were encouraged to sit and knit during trials and
executions. The Revolutionary Tribunal ordered the
execution of 2,400 people in Paris by July 1794.
Across France 30,000 people lost their lives.
The Reign of Terror
•The Reign
of Terror
began with
the death of
the Queen
•Many were
put in prison
for later
execution.
Maximilien Robespierre
 Robespierre was named
the head of the
Committee on Public
Safety.
 Their job was to round
up and execute enemies
of the Revolution – that
meant anyone who
disagreed with
Robespierre.
The Directory
 A new government was set in place
called the Directory which did not work.
 The Directory was overthrown and
replaced by a Consulate, headed by Two
Consuls – one of whom was Napoleon
Bonaparte.
 Napoleon quickly brought about a coup
d’etat and became the sole ruler.
Napoleon
Bonaparte
•Napoleon had made
his name through the
military. He was
trained in the finest
military school in
Paris and went on to
win many battles.
The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques Louis David –
notice that he has already crowned himself and now is
crowning his wife, Josephine. The Pope has to sit and
watch; symbolic of the kind of ruler Napoleon was to be.
The French Revolution ended in 1799 when
Napoleon entered Paris and became First
Consul at the age of 30. A brilliant politician
and a military genius, he took the title of
Emperor Napoleon I in 1804.
Napoleon’s Accomplishments
 Created a new legal system, the Napoleonic
Code.
 Set up schools
 Ended the estate social class system
 Created a bureaucracy based on merit not
on birth.
 Reduced the power of the Catholic Church
 Required all citizens to pay taxes
Napoleon’s Downfall
 When Napoleon attempted to invade Russia
in 1812 he failed BADLY!
 After that Napoleon was captured and
exiled to the island of Elba.
 He escaped and Napoleon returned to Paris.
 At a battle called Waterloo, Napoleon was
finally defeated and sent to the Island of St.
Helena were he died in 1821.
The Congress of Vienna
 In 1814 European leaders met in Austria
before the French Revolution.
 to return Europe to the way it was Their
goal was to bring a balance of power that
would prevent any single nation from
controlling Europe.
 European leaders were against individual
rights and nationalism and brought back
power to the royal families.