The French
Revolution
Brian M. Anzek
Wright State University
Ed 639
Table of Contents
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Who the lesson is for
Objectives
Needed Materials
Student Activities
Material Being Taught
List of Websites
Pertains to:
• Ninth Grade
• World Studies
• First Unit-Age of Revolutions
Objectives
• Understand the Causes
• French Social Structure
• Mishandling of Domestic Affairs
• Explain the Resulting Outcomes
• What Type of Government was
Established
• How was the Rest of the World
Affected
Materials Needed
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Computer w/ Internet Access
Notes from Class
Printer
The List of Websites from the
End of the Presentation
Student Activities
• Students Will Create a Pamphlet
• Address French Concerns
• Persuasive Paragraph for or against
King Louis XVI ’s Execution
• An Advertisement for the Guillotine
• Must Include Only One Picture
Student Activities (cont’d)
• Students are to Create a Timeline
• Should begin with Louis’ marriage to
Marie
• Should end with Napoleon’s Death
• Must include 15 important events
minimum
Other Student Activities
• In class lecture notes
• Printed with Important Words Missing
• Forces them to Pay Attention to Lecture
• In class worksheets
• Should accompany text
• Watch Video of Marie Antoinette
• Get Idea of how the rich lived
• Watch Les Misérables
• Get idea of how the poor lived
The French Revolution
• The Revolution began in 1789
• 13 years after the United States
declared independence from Britain
• 2 years after the U.S. Constitution
• Peasants Upset
• Rich had plenty of food while poor
starved
• Domestic affairs mishandled
• France on the Road to Bankruptcy
• Supported U.S. Revolution
The French Revolution
• Economic Troubles
• Government In Debt due to Wars
• Poor Harvests=Soaring Food Prices
• Failure to reform
• Louis XVI was Weak and Indecisive
• Louis calls for cahiers
• List of grievances presented to
Estates General
King Louis XVI
The French Revolution
• The Tennis Court Oath
• Members of the Third Estate
declared themselves to be the
National Assembly
• Parisians Capture the Bastille
• Third Estate-Commoners (Majority)
• First Estate-Nobles
• Second Estate-Clergy
The Bastille
The French Revolution
• Declaration of the Rights of Man
• “liberty, property, security, and
resistance to oppression.”
• All male citizens equal before the law
• Set up an income tax
• Women march on Versailles
• Demand bread
• Marie Antoinette says “Let them eat
Cake”
• She does not, but it helped stir emotions
Marie Antoinette
The French Revolution
• King Louis XVI Beheaded
• Use of the Guillotine
• January 21, 1793
• Maximilien Robespierre
• Rises to leadership of the Revolution
• Chief architect of the Reign of Terror
• Claimed an estimated 40,000 lives
• Mostly to the Guillotine
• His beheading signified the end of the Reign
of Terror (July 27, 1794)
Robespierre and
the
Guillotine
The French Revolution
• Continued until 1799
• Napoleon took power
• Made himself Emporer
• Took steps to get France on the right
path
• Implemented Napoleonic code
• Attempted to expanded France’s influence
− Invaded Russia and lost through retreat
− Was sent into exile, but his presence was
requested in France
Napoleon
The French Revolution
• Clashed with British at Waterloo
• Defeated by the Duke of Wellington
• Again, sent into exile
• Died in 1821 on St. Helena
− Island in South Atlantic
• His legacy lives on in the
Napoleonic Codes
Helpful Websites
• Liberty,Equality, Fraternity--
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/
• HistoryWiz--
http://www.historywiz.com/frenc
hrev.htm
• The History Guide--
http://www.historyguide.org/inte
llect/lecture12a.html
Helpful Websites (cont’d)
• The French Revolution--
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/frenc
h/french.html
• Causes of the French Revolution--
http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/
history/muhlberger/2155/revcause.ht
m