French Revolution Review Sheet

Civil Constitution of the Clergy(handout)

A law passed in 1790. It subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government. It basically statd that the French government would take the Church's land and sell it for government funds,

Jacobins

A radical political organization that were involved in the governmental changes on 1792. They wanted the death of all people who continued to support the King. They tried Louis for treason, found him guilty and sentenced him to death.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

A statement of revolutionary ideals adopted by the National Assembly. It stated that "men are born and remain free and equal in rights". The rights were "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression". It also guaranteed citizens equal justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.

Great Fear

A wave of senseless panic that rolled through France. Peasants rebelled and broke into manor houses, destroying legal papers that bound them to their feudal dues, or sometimes just burning down the whole house. Thousands of Parisian women marched to Versailles because they were enraged about the rising price of bread. They demanded that the National Assembly take action to provide bread. They then broke into the palace, killed some guards, They demanded that Louis and Marie Antoinette return to Paris, soon after Louis agreed

Emigres

Nobles and others who had fled France. They hoped to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime. They also fled out of fear of being guillotined for their beliefs.

Cahiers

Notebooks of grievances and demands for reform. They were drawn up at local meetings of each estate before the meeting of the Estates General in May of 1789. The demands mainly focused on getting rid of the Old Regime and creating representative democracy.

Committee of Public Safety

The Committee in France that was supposed to protect the Revolution from its enemies. The leader of the committee was Robespierre during his reign. They guillotined many people, some for the simple reason of being less radical than Robespierre.

Louis XVI

The French King during the 1770s and 1780s, the French Revolution. He was a very weak ruler, caused by his tutors' lack of effort to prepare him to be King. Although he was not a good king, he tried to be. He was well intentioned and sincerely wanted to improve the lives of the common people, but he lacked the ability to make decisions and the determination to see policies through. The members of his court were ill-informed and gave him bad advice. He lead the country into a terrible debt. He thought ruling was boring and much prefffered physical activity, specifically hunting. He had many hobbies and was skilled in many trades including lock-making, metalworking, and bricklaying.

Robespierre

The Jacobin leader who slowly gained power of France. He and his supporters set out to build a "republic of virtue" by wiping out every trace of France's past. They changed the Calendar by getting rid of Sundays and closed all Churches in Paris because they considered religion old-fashioned and dangerous. He governed France as a dictator and his rule was known as the Reign of Terror. He guillotined a ton of people for small reasons such as being less radical than him. He was guillotined by the people of France.

Sans Culottes

The Parisian workers and small shopkeepers who wanted the Revolution to bring great changes to France. The word Sans Culottes means "those without knee breeches because they wore regular trousers. They discovered other ways to exort their power on the streets of Paris because they did not have a role in the Assembly.

National Assembly

The Third Estate delegates who passes laws and reforms in the name of the French People. They were encouraged to establish themselves by a clergyman named Abbe Sieyes. It was established on June 17, 1789. It proclaimed the end of Absolute monarchy and the beginning of representative government.

Abbe Sieyes

The clergyman who was sympathetic to the Third Estate's cause. He suggested that they name themselves the National Assembly and pass laws and reforms in the name of the French people. This led to the new French government.

Second Estate

The estate made up of rich nobles that accounted for two percent of the population. They were made up of two groups: nobles of the sword: born into position, and nobles of the robes: bought position. They owned twenty percent of the land and paid almost no taxes. They disagreed about enlightenment ideas.

Constitution of 1791

The first constitution made by the National Assembly. It created a limited constitutional monarchy that stripped the king of much of his authority. It also created the new legislative body called the Legislative Assembly. It had the power to create laws and to approve or reject declarations of war.

Bourgeoise

The first group of the Third Estate. They were the middle class; bankers, factory owners, merchants, professionals, and skilled artisans. They were usually well educated and believed strongly in Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality. Some of them were as rich as nobles but paid the same taxes of the rest of the Third Estate and lacked the same privileges. The richest ones believed that their wealth entitled them to a greater degree of social status and political power.

Third Estate

The last and largest of the Three Estates. It consisted of three groups: bourgeoisie, urban poor, and peasants. They were the poorest estate, yet paid the most taxes. They had no power to influence the government, embraced the enlightenment ideas, and resented the wealthy First and Second Estates.

Guillotine

The machine popularly used in France that was invented by Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin. The machine was efficient, humane, democratic and used to behead people. This was the death penalty back in France during the Revolution.

La Marseillaise

The national anthem of France, written in 1972. It was writen after the declaration of war from France to Austria. It was adopted as the republics official anthem in 1975.

Legislative Assembly

The new legislative body established by the constitution of 1791. They had the power to create laws and to approve or reject declarations of war. It took much of the kind's authority but he still had the power to enforce laws,

Versailles

The palace of Versialles was used during the French Revoultion to host the Estates General meeting to pass the tax imposed on the Second Estate by Louis XVI. The Third Estate declared themselves the National Assembly, and then were locked out of the meeting room by Louis. This encouraged them to knock down the door to another room, which happened to be an indoor tennis court. There they pledged to stay until they had drawn up a new constitution. (The Tennis Court Oath)

Reign of Terror

The period in France in which Robespierre ruled. It was called this because he ruled like a dictator and because he thought that terror mixed with virtue was an effective way to rule. He was the leader of the Committee of Public Safety, whose job was to protect the Revolution from its enemies. He considered a lot of people his enemies and guillotined much of France's population.

Tennis Court Oath

The pledge made by the Third Estate delegates to make a new constitution. They decided to make this pledge when they found themselves locked out of their meeting room, so they knocked down the door to an indoor tennis court. Once there, they pledged(the Tennis Court Oath) to stay until they had drawn up a new constitution.

Urban Poor

The second group of the Third Estate. They were tradespeople, apprentices, laborers, and domestic servants. They were paid low wages and were frequently out of work. They resented the clergy and nobles for their privileges and special treatment.

First Estate

The smallest Estate made up of clergy members. They owned ten percent of the land in France and provided education and relief services to the poor. They also scorned enlightenment ideas.

Old Regime

The social class system that was divided into three main estates. The first estate was the smallest Estate made up of clergy members. They owned ten percent of the land in France and provided education and relief services to the poor. They also scorned enlightenment ideas. The second estate was the estate made up of rich nobles that accounted for two percent of the population. They were made up of two groups: nobles of the sword: born into position, and nobles of the robes: bought position. They owned twenty percent of the land and paid almost no taxes. They disagreed about enlightenment ideas. Third estate was the last and largest of the Three Estates. It consisted of three groups: bourgeoisie, urban poor, and peasants. They were the poorest estate, yet paid the most taxes. They had no power to influence the government, embraced the enlightenment ideas, and resented the wealthy First and Second Estates.

Marie Antoinette

The wife of King Louis XVI. She was a pretty, lighthearted, charming woman. She spent a lot of France's money on fancy clothes, jewels, and gambling. She was unpopular with the French people because of this reason and also because she was a member of Austria's royal family, France's enemy. She often gave Louis bad advice, helping to influence his bad ruling. She changed fashion in France by refusing to wear tight clothes and wore loose ones instead.

Estates General

an assembly of representatives from all three estates. The meeting during the French Revolution was the first in 175 years. It was called to approve the new tax imposed upon the second estate by Louis to help pay off France's very large debt.