Comparing Revolutions
What was the main philosophical influence on the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Haitian Revolution?
Enlightenment ideas
What kind of government did France have before the Revolution?
Absolute monarchy or Old Regime
Why did nobles and monarchs in other European countries watch the French Revolution with alarm?
They were afraid of similar revolts in their own countries
Who were the Jacobins?
A radical political organization that gained power in 1792 and tried and convicted the king of treason and beheaded him
How did Napoleon seize power?
A coup d’etat; he surrounded the national legislature with soldiers and dissolved the directory
In which order were the French, Haitian, and American Revolutions?
1. American
2. French
3. Haitian
How were all French citizens grouped before the Revolution?
Into Three Estates or classes
What was the storming of the Bastille?
A mob stormed the Bastille prison looking for weapons
A symbolic act of revolution
French national holiday
Who was Robespierre?
A Jacobin leader who led the Committee of Public Safety and became a virtual dictator and ruled during the Reign of Terror
What is a plebiscite?
a vote of the people
Which revolution was the only successful slave revolt in history?
The Haitian Revolution
Who made up the First Estate in Pre-Revolutionary France and what percentage of the French were in this group?
Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church
Less than 1%
What did the National Assembly do that alarmed millions of French peasants and why did this turn them against the Assembly’s reforms?
Confiscating and selling Church lands
They were devout Catholics and believed that the pope should rule over a church independent of the state
What ended the Reign of Terror?
The national Convention turned on Robespierre and had him executed
What was Napoleon’s first title and to what did it refer?
First Consul
The Roman Republic
What was the main difference in the success of the Haitian Revolution and other historical slave revolts?
Leadership
Who made up the Second Estate in Pre-Revolutionary France and what percentage of the French were in this group?
The Aristocracy (nobles)
About 2%
Name THREE rights proposed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen?
Liberty
Resistance to Oppression
Property
Freedom of Speech
Security
Freedom of Religion
Equal Justice
Give THREE main causes of the French Revolution:
High taxes (or tithes)
Lack of social privileges of the 3rd estate
Lack of political power of the 3rd Estate
Enlightenment ideas
Success of the American Revolution
Low wages
Unemployment
Famine/hunger
Special treatment of the 1st and 2nd Estates
Weak Leadership
What happened at the Battle of Trafalgar?
destruction of French fleet
British defeated the French navy
What was the main difference between the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Haitian Revolution?
The American Revolution was primarily a call for POLITICAL change
The French Revolution was a call for POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, and CULTURAL/RELIGIOUS CHANGE
The Haitian Revolution was primarily a call for POLITICAL change and an END TO SLAVERY
What percentage of French society was in the Third Estate in Pre-Revolutionary France, and which three groups made up the Third Estate?
About 97%
(1) The bourgeoisie or middle class
(2) The urban workers or urban poor
(3) Peasants or rural poor
What were the three groups in the Revolutionary Government, where did each group sit, and what did they want?
The Radicals sat on the left of the hall; they wanted a republic and sweeping changes
The Moderates sat in the center of the hall; they wanted some changes in government but not as much as the Radicals
The Conservatives sat on the right side of the hall; they wanted a limited constitutional monarchy and fewer changes in government than the other two groups
Name THREE of Robespierre’s changes to France:
Changed the calendar - months and days
No Sundays
Closed all the churches
Had a lot of people executed for treason against the Revolution
Name THREE of Napoleon’s reforms:
Tax collection reforms
National banking system
Ended corruption in government
Set up government run public schools open to males of all backgrounds
Appointed officials based on merit rather than family connections
Concordat - agreement with Pope to restore Roman Catholic Church as independent of the state
Napoleonic Code - uniform laws
Restricted freedom of speech and press
Restored slavery in colonies