1. Chapter 19 A Revolution in Politics:
The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon

2. Map 19.1: North America,

3. The American Revolution
Reorganization, Resistance, and Rebellion
Britain’s victory in the Seven Years’ War
50% of adult male population can vote
British raise taxes on colonists to increase revenue
Indirect political representation in England
“No taxation without representation”
Boston Tea Party
War for Independence
Colonists were initially divided over revolting against Britain
Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
Declaration of Independence, 1776
Battle of Saratoga, 1777
Commitment of European aid
Battle of Yorktown, 1781
Surrender of Cornwalis
Peace of Paris, 1783

4. The American Revolution (cont)
French support
Aided colonists with money and troops
French army and navy helped the colonists defeat British General Cornwallis at Yorktown
Forming a New Nation
Articles of Confederation,
Constitution, 1789
Bill of Rights, 1791
Checks and Balances
Impact of the American Revolution on Europe
Concept of freedom
Concept of rights
French army and navy officers brought American political and moral ideas back to Europe

5. Possible Test Question
When the American Revolution began,
Almost all of the colonists were united in favor of independence.
Almost all of the colonists were against independence, but were soon convinced by the propaganda of a small elite group.
The colonists feared the kind of blood-bath that had engulfed France during the French Revolution.
The Loyalists argued in favor of separation from Great Britain.
The colonials were deeply divided among themselves about revolting against Britain.

6. Possible Test Question
The colonists won their war for independence due to
Generous military and financial aid from various European states, especially France.
The collapse of the English colonial system.
Apathy of the English military.
Flaws in the English mercantile system.
B and C.

7. Possible Test Question
A key conduit of “enlightened” American political and moral ideas back to Europe was formed by
Returning British prisoners of war.
The hundreds of literate and influential French army and navy officers who had fought on the American side during the Revolutionary War.
European nobles returning from expeditions to the new American frontier.
Missionary priests returning from evangelical campaigns deep in the U.S. back country.
Official proclamations sent to the governments of Europe by George Washington and other Americans.

8. Background to the French Rev
Social Structure of the Old Regime
First and Second Estates dominated society
First Estate = clergy (130,000)
Owned 10% of land
Exempt from France’s chief tax
Second Estate = nobility (350,000)
Owned 25-30% of the land
Exempt from taille or tax
French economy was growing in the 18th century, but money was not distributed to equal segments of society.

9. The Third Estate Commoners
Peasants = 75-80% of the population
Peasants own 35-40% of the land
Serfdom was over, but peasants still paid to use village facilities such as flour mill, community oven,
Paid taxes
Skilled artisans, shopkeepers, and wage earners
Bourgeoisie (middle class) (8% or 2.3 million)
Own 20-25% of the land
Merchants, industrialists, bankers, lawyers, doctors, writers
Similarities between wealthier bourgeoisie and nobility

10. Possible Test Question
By the eighteenth century, the French bourgeoisie and nobility were
Growing further apart in social status.
Increasingly less distinguishable from each other.
Rapidly losing social status to the third estate.
Openly hostile and frequently involved in street battles.
Almost completely dominated by the clergy of the First Estate.

11. The Three Estates

12. Other Problems Facing the French Monarchy
Bad Harvests (1787 and 1788)
Food shortages & rising price of food (bread)
Poverty
One-third of the population was poor
Ideas of the Philosophes
Criticism of privileges of the clergy and nobility
Enlightenment writers (especially Rouseau) were influential
Failure to Reform
Obstruction of reform by the French Parlements
Financial Crisis (immediate cause of French Revolution)
Mounting debt
Calonne’s “assembly of notables” (1787) (nobles, prelates, magistrates)
Refused to cooperate with the king
Summoning of the Estates General (1789)
Virtually consenting that public approval was necessary to raise taxes

13. Possible Test Question
The most immediate cause of the French Revolution was
The government’s failure to resolve its debts and other economic problems.
The blocking of attempted reforms by the French Parlements.
The radical calls of the philosophes for reform.
Louis XVI’s rejection of the cahiers de doleances.
Violent uprisings by the common people who were demanding political and economic equality.

14. From Estates-General to a National Assembly
300 delegates each to the First and Second Estate
Approx. 90 of the nobles were liberal minded (Enlightenment)
600 delegates to the Third Estate
Strong legal and urban presence
Cahiers de doléances (statements of local grievances)
Advocated a regular constitutional government that would abolish fiscal privileges of the church and nobility

15. Possible Test Question
In 1789, the Estates-General was
Louis XVI’s parliamentary body often consulted by the king.
In unanimous agreement that only radical changes could solve France’s problems.
Dominated by the first estate composed mostly of urban lawyers.
Unanimously in agreement about the necessity of immediately creating a “National Assembly.”
Divided over the issue of voting by “orders” or by “head.”

16. Possible Test Questions
The cahiers de doleances called for
Abolishing the fiscal privileges of the church and nobility.
The abolition of the Estates-General.
The royal execution of all rebels in France.
Universal voting privileges for all French people.
The beheading of Louis XVI.

17. Estates General meets May 5, 1789
Question of voting by order or head
Third Estate wanted to vote by head (double the representatives)
Third Estate wanted to make a single chamber legislature
Abbé Sieyès “What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been thus far in the political order? Nothing. What does it demand? To become something.”
Sieyes desired the Third Estate to have a voice in the Estates General

18. Third Estate
June 17, 1789 – Declares itself a National Assembly and decides to draw up a constitution
Doors were locked to the meeting place so they met at an indoor Tennis Court
Tennis Court Oath, June 20
Would continue to meet until they had a French Constitution
Intervention of the Common People
Attack on the Bastille, July 14 (arsenal & prison)
Peasant rebellions, July 19-August 3
Collapse of Royal Authority – saved the National Assembly
Great Fear - fear of invasion by foreign troops aided by an aristocratic plot
Led to formation of more citizen militias
French Revolutionary slogan “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!”

19. The Tennis Court Oath

20. Destruction of the Old Regime
Seigneurial (manorialism) rights abolished, August 4, 1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
August 26
Listed basic liberties
Called for an end to aristocratic privileges
Gave women increased rights but not political rights
Drew from the American Declaration of Independence
Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, 1791
Wanted equal rights for women in politics
Was ignored by the men
The Women’s March to Versailles
October 5, 1789
Oct. 6, 1789 Return of the king to Paris

21. Possible Test Question
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
Was drawn up by the monarchy to limit freedoms.
Was rejected by those influenced by the Enlightenment.
Owed much to the ideas of the American Declaration of Independence.
Allowed for aristocratic privileges to endure in France.
Was an anti-Lockean document.

22. Possible Test Question
The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen
Became law by popular vote of the National Assembly.
Was ignored entirely by the males in the National Assembly who did little to improve the lot of women in French society.
Caused massive riots in its defense by ordinary men and women, especially in cities.
Was fully accepted by the crown and its ministers and then became enforceable law.
Was harshly criticized by Mary Wollstonecraft as not being sufficiently revolutionary.

23. Accomplishments of the National Assembly
Issue the Declaration of the Rights of Man
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
Reform of French voting procedures
Abolishment of divine right monarchy

24. Destruction of the Old Regime (cont)
The Catholic Church
Civil Constitution of the Clergy, July, 1790
Clergy were to take an oath of allegiance to the Civil Constitution
54% did, creating a religious opposition to the revolution
A New Constitution
Establishment of a constitutional monarchy with real power residing in the Legislative Assembly
Administrative restructuring
Opposition from Within
Growth of opposition to new order
Clergy
Peasants
Radical political clubs
Jacobins
Continuing financial pressure
Composition of Legislative Assembly
Clerics and nobles were gone
Most members were land owning men and lawyers

25. Possible Test Question
What type of government was established in France by 1791?
Dictatorship
Republic
Democracy
Constitutional monarchy
socialist

26. Opposition from Abroad Declaration of Pillnitz (1791)
Austria & Prussia wanted other European nations to help strengthen Louis XVI’s hold on the monarchy
Declaration of war on Austria, April 20, 1792
Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria
Early course of the war
France lost many early battles in the war
The tide of the war will change with the rise of nationalism and a young general named Napoleon

27. The Radical Revolution
National Convention, September 1792
Appointed Georges Danton as minister of justice
Universal male suffrage
Abolition of the monarchy, September 21
Sans-culottes sought revenge on those who had aided the king
Sans-culottes – ordinary patriots without fine clothes (without pants)
Domestic Crisis
Factions of the Jacobins
Girondins (provinces)
The Mountain (city of Paris)
Execution of Louis XVI, January 21, 1793
The Commune represented the city’s artisans and shopkeepers
Stormed the national convention & executed leading Girondins
Counterrevolution
Peasants of Vendee repudiated the authority of the convention
The Vendean Rebellion favored the King & the clergy
Vendee – peasants who revolted against the military draft

28. Foreign Crisis Foreign Crisis A Nation in Arms
Informal coalition of Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, & the Dutch Republic were against France
Committee of Public Safety
Given power to curb anarchy & counterrevolution at home
Led by Danton and Robespierre
Military losses Mounted
A Nation in Arms
Universal mobilization of the nation
Rise of Nationalism
Raised the largest army in European history
The main accomplishment of the National Convention was preserving the Revolution from being destroyed by foreign enemies

29. Citizens Enlisting in the New French Army

30. Women Patriots

31. Map 19.2: The French Conquests during the Revolutionary Wars

32. The Reign of Terror & Its Aftermath
Committee of Public Safety and Reign of Terror
July 1793-July 1794
Vendée – areas of rebellion had the highest death rate
Terror demonstrated no class prejudice
Majority of the victims were from the peasant and laboring classes
Went after Royalists, Girondins, Vendee
“Republic of Virtue”
Price controls
Used goods requisitioned from the country for the cities
Women
Although women contributed to the revolution, they were still limited politically

33. Possible Test Question
During the Reign of Terror, the majority of the victims were
Nobles.
Clergy.
Middle class.
Peasant and laboring classes.
The bourgeoisie.

34. Dechristianization and a New Calendar
Word saint was removed from streets
Renamed months & Days (10 Day week)
Removed Christian holidays
Dechristianization failed because France was still a Catholic country
Created more enemies than friends
Equality and Slavery
Revolt in Saint Dominigue (Haiti)
Slave revolt was put down but started up again forming the first independent state in Latin America – Haiti
Inspired by the ideals of the Revolution
Decline of the Committee of Public Safety
Execution of Maximilien Robespierre, July 28, 1794
Opposition grew out of fear that they were not safe while Robespierre was free to act
His death brought an end to the radical stage of the French Revolution

35. Possible Test Question
In regard to religion, the National Convention
Took measures to strengthen the Roman Catholic Church.
Issued an edict allowing for total religious freedom.
Took measures to dechristianize the republic.
Made the republic completely atheistic.
Expelled the Jews from France.

36. Revolt in Saint Dominique (Haiti)

37. Reaction and the Directory
Thermidorian Reaction and the Directory
Curtails much of the Terror’s policies
Shut down the Jacobin club and limits the power of the Committee of Public Safety
Conservative turn of the Revolution
Churches reopened
Laissez-faire policies adopted
Constitution of 1795
Council of Elders (upper house) elects 5 members to act as executive authority or Directory
Army was used to disperse an insurrection
Showed that the Directory needed to rely on the military for survival

38. Age of Napoleon Rise of Napoleon Born in Corsica, 1769
Commissioned a lieutenant, 1785
Promoted to brigadier general, 1794
Saved the National Convention from a Parisian mob, 1795
Victory in Italy, 1797
Defeat in Egypt, 1799
Coup d’etat, 1799 (military takeover of government)

39. Rise of Napoleon
Born as both a child of Enlightenment thought and of the French Revolution
Initially disliked by fellow officers and soldiers because he was short and had an Italian accent
Well read in Enlightenment thought and military history
Married Josephine, the wife of a guillotined general
Rose quickly in the military ranks by defeating the armies of France’s enemies

40. The Republic and the Empire
Republic of France proclaimed, 1799
First Consul – controlled the executive branch
First Consul for life, 1802
Crowned Emperor Napoleon I, 1804
Domestic Policies of Emperor Napoleon
Napoleon and the Catholic Church
Concordat of 1801 ended tension with the church
Stabilized Napoleon’s regime
Church land was not returned
Catholicism was not reinstated as the state religion

41. Possible Test Question
The Concordat
Allowed for reforms in the French military.
Reestablished the Catholic Church and gave the pope limited authority in France.
Was part of Napoleon’s Civil Code.
Reformed the French civil service.
Established an absolute separation of church and state in France.

42. A New Code of Laws Code Napoleon (Civil Code)
Equality of all citizens before the law
Right of individuals to choose their professions
Religious toleration
Abolition of serfdom and feudalism
Property rights protected
Outlawed trade unions
Restored fathers control over their families
Divorce was more difficult to obtain
Husbands controlled property rights
Civil Code reaffirmed the ideals of the Revolution while creating a uniform legal system

43. The French Bureaucracy
Centralization of administration 
Prefects appointed by Napoleon supervised local government
Taxes were collected by professional collectors
Tax collection became systematic & efficient
Everyone paid taxes
Balanced budget in 1802
Appointed people in civil or military office based on demonstrated ability
Napoleon created nobles from military & civil officers
22% of Napoleon’s aristocracy came from the nobility of the old regime & 60% were of Bourgeois origin

44. Growing despotism (Benevolent Despotism)
He destroyed & preserved aspects of the Revolution
Opened up careers based on talent
Preserved equality
Created a new aristocracy
Strong protection to property rights
Use of conscription for the military
Suspended freedom of press
Shut down 60 of 73 newspapers
All manuscripts must be approved by the government before being published
Government police opened mail
Exiled writer Germaine de Stael for her criticism of his despotic rule

45. The Coronation of Napoleon

46. Napoleon’s Empire and the European Response
Peace of Amiens, 1802 (temporary peace)
Renewal of war, 1803
Military victories,
Napoleon’s Grand Empire
Composed of 3 different parts and united under Napoleon (French Empire, dependent states, allied states)
Failure of the Grand Empire
Problems: Great Britain and Nationalism
Survival of Britain
Seapower
Continental System, – block British good from Europe
Nationalism – spread nationalism to conquered territory, resulting in uprisings

47. Possible Test Question
Napoleon’s Grand Empire
Was composed of three different parts but united under the rule of Napoleon.
Revived the power of the nobility and clergy in all its states.
Included all of Europe with the defeat of Britain in 1805.
Had no long-standing impact on the conquered countries.
Was abolished by the Directory in 1799.

48. Francisco Goya, The Third of May 1808

49. Map 19.3: Napoleon’s Grand Empire

50. The Fall of Napoleon Invasion of Russia, 1812
Invaded over their refusal to follow the Continental System
600,000 soldiers attacked, 40,000 made it out alive
Defeat of Napoleon, April 1814
Exiled to island of Elba
Island off the coast of Italy
Escape from Elba, 1815
Raised an army
Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815
Exiled to St. Helena
Small island in the South Atlantic (between South America and Africa)
Napoleon died 6 years later

51. Possible Test Question
Napoleon met his final defeat at the Battle of
Leipzig.
Borodino.
Trafalgar.
Austerlitz.
Waterloo.