Reform and Revolution: what, if anything, distinguishes one from the
other?
What kinds of “reform” were proposed, debated, and introduced in
Europe after 1760?
Is revolution simply reform brought about by violent means?
The Enlightenment and Reform, 1750-1788
Nature as Guide and Object of Imitation
Unnatural restrictions, 17th
century
Natural freedom
“Here is the rule of
nature” from
Rousseau‘s Emile
The Good Mother
The child-centered family
Rousseau’s
Emile 1762
Who is this mother?
1. Lady Marlbourough
2. An idealized portrait of an
aristocratic mother & children
3. Queen Charlotte, wife of George
III
4. Vigee le Brun
5. Marie-Antoinette, Queen of
France
Varieties of Political Reform
in the later 18th century
Russia: Catharine II's Charter of the Nobility, 1785
Catherine the Great (1762-1796)
From the Grand Instructions, 1768
9. The Sovereign is absolute; for there
is no other Authority but that which
centers in his single Person, that can act
with a Vigour proportionate to the
Extent of such a vast Dominion.
12. Another Reason is: That it is better
to be subject to the Laws under one
Master, than to be subservient to
many.
34. The Equality of the Citizens consists
in this; that they should all be subject to
the same Laws.
39. The political Liberty of a Citizen is
the Peace of Mind arising from the
Conscious
ness, that every Individual enjoys his
peculiar Safety; and in order that the
People might attain this Liberty, the
Laws ought to be so framed, that no
one Citizen should stand in Fear of
another; but that all of them should
stand in Fear of the same Laws.
1. The noble calling is the result, rising out of the qualities and virtues of men who held high
office in the past, and distinguished themselves by their merits, by which they transformed
the service itself into a dignity, and won for their descendants the noble appellation.
2. It is not only useful for the empire and the throne, but also just, to preserve
and firmly establish the honorable estate of the well -born nobility; and hence the
dignity of nobility shall remain inalienable from oldest times to the present, and for all
time by inheritance to the descendants of those families that now enjoy it, as follows:
3· The nobleman transmits his noble status to his wife.
4· The nobleman transmits his well- born noble status by inheritance to his children.
8. Without judicial proceedings no well - born person can lose noble. status.
9- Without judicial proceedings no well - born person can lose his honor.
1 o. Without judicial proceedings no well -born person can lose his life;.
11. Without judicial proceedings no well-born person can lose his property.
12. The well - born person can be judged only by his peers.
15. Corporal punishment may not be inflicted on any well-born person.
16. Noblemen serving in the lower ranks of our Army shall be liable only to such
punishments as our military regulations prescribe for higher officers.
17. We guarantee independence and freedom to the Russian nobility for all time, by
inheritance in future generations.
.
18. We guarantee to noblemen, now in our service, the right either to continue in service
or to apply for release from it according to regulations now in effect.
19- We guarantee permission to noblemen to enter the service of other
European powers allied with us, and to travel in foreign lands.
20 [Duty of nobles to defend the state. .]
21. The well - born person has the right to sign his name [as owner of a landed
estate
33· Well - born persons, in accordance with the ukaz of June 28, 1ih are confirmed in the
right to possess, not only the surface of the lands be longing to them, but also whatever
minerals or plants may be present in the depths beneath the soil or waters, and likewise , all
metals extracted therefrom. . . .
34 Well-born persons are confirmed in the right to possess the forests on their
estates, and in the right of free use of these forests. . . ..
35· In the villages the house of the lord shall be exempt from military quartering.
36 The well - born person is himself freed from personal taxes.
Frederick II, King of Prussia (1740-88)
The Prussian General Code, 1791
77. The welfare of the state in general, and of its
inhabitants in particular, is the aim of civil society and the
general objective of the laws.
79. The laws and ordinances of the state should restrict ~he
natural liberty and rights of citizens no further than the
general welfare demands.
89. The rights of man arise from his birth, from his estate,
and from actions and arrangements with which the laws
have associated a certain determinate effect.
From Frederick II. Essay on the Forms of Government
Princes, sovereigns, and kings have not been given supreme authority
in order to live in luxurious self-indulgence and debauchery. They have
not been elevated by their fellow-men to enable them to strut about
and to insult with their pride the simple-mannered, the poor, and the
suffering. They have not been placed at the head of the State to keep
around themselves a crowd of idle loafers whose uselessness drives
them towards vice. The bad administration which may be found in
monarchies springs from many different causes, but their principal
cause lies in the character of the sovereign. A ruler addicted o women
will become a tool of his mistresses and favorites. and these will abuse
their power and commit wrongs of every kind, will protect vice, sell
offices, and perpetrate every infamy . ...
The sovereign is the representative of his State. He and his people
form a single body. Ruler and ruled can be happy only if they are
firmly united. The sovereign stands to his people in the same relation
in which the head stands to the body. He must use his eyes and his
brain for the whole community, and act on its behalf to the common
advantage.
Part II: Title IX: On tilt: Duties and Rights of the Noble Estate
I. The nobility, as the first estate in the state, most
especially bears the obligation, by its distinctive
destination, to maintain the defense of the state, both of its
honor without and of its constitution within.
PRIVILEGES OF THE NOBILITY
34. Persons of the nobility are normally subject to the
jurisdiction only of the highest court in the province.
35. The nobleman has an especial right to places of honor in
the state for which he has made himself fit.
36. But the sovereign retains the power to be the judge of
fitness and make selection from among candidates.
37. Only the nobleman has the right to possess noble
properly.
40. Only the resident nobility normally have the right to
appear in the noble assemblies of circles and provinces, and
to have a voice on matters under consideration there.
51. Persons of the burgher estate cannot own noble
property except by permission of the sovereign.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
(1712-1778)
What was Rousseau’s definition of freedom?
1. The right to do anything that does not harm
another.
2. The right to secure one’s property and
person against arbitrary actions of a
monarch or state?
3. The right to resist unjust laws.
4. None of the above.
The Unnaturalness of Inequality
Discourse on the Origins of
Inequality (1752)
Social Contract 1762
Jean Jacques Rousseau
(1712-1778)
“I wish to enquire whether, taking men as they arc and laws as they can be made, it is
possible to establish some just and certain rule of administration in civil affairs. In this
investigation I shall always strive to reconcile what right permits with what interest
prescribes, so that justice and utility may not be severed ....”
“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Many a one believes himself the
master of others, and yet he is a greater slave than they. How has this change come
about? I do not know. What can render it legitimate? I believe that I can settle this
question.”
"Each of us puts in common his person and his whole power under the supreme direction
of the general will; and in return we receive every member as an indivisible part of the
whole.“
“Now, the sovereign, being formed only of the individuals that compose it, neither
has nor can have any interest contrary to theirs; consequently the sovereign power
needs no guarantee towards its subjects, because it is impossible that the body should
wish to injure all its members; and we shall see hereafter that it can injure no one as
an individual.”
The Unnaturalness of Inequality
Discourse on the Origins of
Inequality (1752)
“that whoever refuses to obey the general will shall be constrained to do so by the whole
body; which means nothing else than that he shall be forced to be free;
Other key ideas:
Freedom: the duty to obey laws one has had a hand in making.
The General Will: “Thus, by the nature of the compact, every act of sovereignty, that is,
every authentic act of the general will, binds or favours equally all the citizens; so that the
sovereign knows only the body of the nation, and distinguishes none of those that
compose it.”
Reduction of inequality: Because great degrees of inequality will weaken the social
contract and undermine the General Will, the state should intervene when necessary to
reduce inequality.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen- 1789
Approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789
Articles:
1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.
2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property,
security, and resistance to oppression.
3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not
proceed directly from the nation.
4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits
except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.
5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be
forced to do anything not provided for by law.
6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It
must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and
to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents.
7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting,
transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue of
the law shall submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense.
8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be
legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offense.
9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness not
essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely repressed by law.
10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the
public order established by law.
11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak,
write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.
12. The security of the rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of
all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be entrusted.
13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of the public forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably
distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.
14. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant
this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes.
15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of his administration.
16. A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.
17. Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall
clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously and equitably indemnified.
Which of the following ideas of Rousseau were
incorporated in the Declaration of Rights of Man
and Citizen of 1789? Rousseau’s idea of
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
freedom
participation
Inequality/equality
the General Will
public interest vs. private interest
all of the above
Enter the number (s) for all that you think were
incorporated.
Rousseau and the French
Revolution
Causes of the French Revolution
1. International: struggle for hegemony and
Empire outstrips the fiscal resources of the
state
2. Political conflict: conflict between the
Monarchy and Aristocrats over the “reform”
of the tax system led to paralysis and
bankruptcy.
3. The Enlightenment: impulse for reform
intensifies political conflicts; reinforces
traditional aristocratic constitutionalism, one
variant of which was laid out in Montesquieu’s
Spirit of the Laws; introduces new notions of
good government, the most radical being
popular sovereignty, as in Rousseau’s Social
Contract [1762])
4. Social antagonisms between two rising
groups: the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie
5. Ineffective ruler: Louis XVI
6. Economic hardship, especially the agrarian
crisis of 1788-89 generates popular discontent
and disorders caused by food shortages.
Which do you think are the
four most important causes
from this list? (enter the
numbers)