The French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment principles to reform society allowing people to overthrow their monarch; creating a republic government.
By rhaynholicz
-
John Locke
Locke thought that people were born with three natural rights: life, liberty, and property. He stated, "Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has the right to, but himself." People had the right to live, no one should be able to take that away. They had their right of liberty, every one should be free and have the same rights as one another. They had the right of property, no matter who you were, you had the right to personally benefit from your own work (Stanford). -
Montesquieu
Montesquieu believed that the government uses their power to protect the natural rights of the people. He also believed that there should be separation of the power between the government, executive, legislative, and judiciary. Jacobins was not the only one ruling over France. There was also a government who had some power. Jacobins was focused on protecting the peoples rights and their ideas withing their city (Stanford). -
Voltaire
Voltaire believed that there should be a separation religion and government. He also believed that there should be religious freedoms because it would give a better tolerance in society. Jacobins' group went against this by completely destroying and eradicating Christianity. People did not have the choice to be Christian, otherwise there would be consequences and punishments (Stanford). -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau thought that there should be a social contract between the people and the government. He believed that if the government did anything except protect the peoples rights then the people could back out and create their own government. To prevent this from happening, France's government accommodated to what the people needed. France gave their people equality, freedom of speech, popular sovereignty, and a representative government. Most countries did not have these opportunities (Stanford). -
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The National Constitute Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen which was a system based on equal opportunity, freedom of speech, popular sovereignty, and representative government. It was also a statement of democratic principles which came from philosophical and political ideas of Enlightenment thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (History). -
The Great Fear
The National Constitute Assembly signed the death certificate of the old order which abolished feudalism. This allowed for peasants to move away from their lord. It was a sense of freedom. They no longer had to live on their land or give their labor without pay. Peasants were no longer forced to pay the feudal fee. This fee was paid when peasants did work, gave goods, or actual money to their lords so they could have a home. The end to feudalism links back to Locke's natural rights (History). -
King Louis XVI was arrested
The political crisis turned. Jacobins lead a group of insurgents and attacked the royal residence, arresting King Louis XVI. This casued a wave of violence where Parisian insurrectionists took on a massacre of hundreds of accused counterrevolutionaries, which were people who wanted a revolution that opposed the previous one. King Louis was condemned to death for high treason and crimes against the state, to the guillotine. The murdering of the king went against the beliefs of Kant (History). -
King Louis' Death
King Louis was sentenced to death after the break-in with the royal residence and his arrest on August 10, 1792. He was given this consequence due to his high treason and crimes committed against the state. They sent him to the guillotine to decapitate him. This went against the beliefs of philosopher Beccaria (History). -
Jacobins Seized Control
Jacobin's group took control over the National Convention from the moderate Girondins, the French moderate republican party at the time. They then instituted a series of radical measures which included the establishment of a new calendar and the destruction of Christianity. This relates back to the separation of religion and government which links back to the philosopher Voltaire (History). -
Cesare Beccaria
Beccaria believed that laws existed to preserve social order, not to avenge crimes.This means that the crimes people commit should be followed by a fitting consequence. People should not be decapitated for stealing a loaf of bread. He also believes that people deserve a fair and speedy trial. His beliefs were influenced by the law reformers in Europe and North America (Stanford). -
End of French Revolution
Napolean abolished Directory which made him France's first consul. A consul is an official appointed by the government to live in a foreign city and protect and promote the citizens and ideas located within the city. This goes off of the ideas of philosopher Montesquieu (History). -
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant believed that the rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences, but on whether or not they fulfilled their duty. King Louis XVI should not have received the consequence he did because he technically did fulfill his duty as king. According to Kant, this should not have happened because King Louis did what he was supposed to do. The people of France may not have agreed with their king, but he did his job as a ruler and "protected" his country (Stanford). -
Work Cited
History.com Staff. “French Revolution.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/french-revolution. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, plato.stanford.edu/.
