Key People
Who was Voltaire?
He was a French Enlightenment thinker who supported free speech and religion.
What is natural rights?
Enlightenment thinkers believed all humans are born with these, such as life, liberty, and property.
What was the Storming of the Bastille?
This July 14, 1789, event marked the start of the French Revolution.
What is the Declaration of the Rights of Man?
This document declared that all men are born free and equal in rights.
What is the Estates System?
The social classes in France before the revolution were called this.
Who was Rousseau?
This philosopher believed that people are naturally good and society corrupts them.
What is the social contract?
The idea that people give up some freedoms to a government to gain protection in return.
What was the Reign of Terror?
A period of extreme violence and mass executions led by Robespierre.
What was the Constitution of 1791?
This 1791 French constitution created a limited monarchy.
What does ancien régime mean?
The term for the old political and social order of France.
Who was Louis XVI?
He was the King of France during the French Revolution who was later executed.
Define separation of powers
Montesquieu promoted this idea to keep any one branch of government from becoming too powerful.
What was the Tennis Court Oath?
A pledge made by the Third Estate to keep meeting until they had a new constitution.
What is the Encyclopédie?
A large Enlightenment work edited by Diderot that spread Enlightenment ideas.
What is the guillotine?
This execution device became a symbol of the Reign of Terror.
Who was Mary Wollstonecraft?
She was an early advocate for women’s rights and wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
What is popular sovereignty?
This concept says that power comes from the people, not from kings or divine rule.
What was the Women's March on Versailles?
A protest by women over the price of bread that forced the royal family to move to Paris.
What is The Social Contract?
Rousseau’s famous book arguing that government should follow the general will.
What does the Tricolor Flag symbolize?
The red, white, and blue French flag is also known as this.
Who was Robespierre?
This radical Jacobin leader led the Reign of Terror before being executed himself.
What is general will according to Rousseau?
Rousseau’s concept that individuals must obey the collective good of society.
What was the Execution of Louis XVI?
This 1793 event marked the end of monarchy in France and shocked Europe.
What was A Vindication of the Rights of Woman?
A feminist text arguing for education and equality for women.
What is the meaning of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité?
The French revolutionary motto meaning "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."