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Enlightenment Ideals And Values: The French Revolution

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The eighteenth century brought many new ideas that challenged the traditional status quo. Enlightenment thinkers denounced common thoughts about government, religion, authority, and human nature. When the French Revolution broke out during the late eighteenth century- many people joined based on ideas entrenched from Enlightenment thought. “The French Revolution first grabbed the attention of the entire world because it seemed to promise universal human rights, constitutional government, and broad-based political participation.” However many were left to question how closely the actions taken were related to the Enlightenment ideals and values. The Enlightenment was an outburst of thought in the beginning of the 18th century. From London …show more content…

During the 1780’s, taxes were considerably raised to help pay for the debt. Additionally, the top two estates were exempt from these taxes; the Clergy and the Nobility were both exempt. That meant 95% of the population - non-clergy and non-nobility - were left to pay the taxes. To help him keep control King Louis XVI organized estates meetings and invited representatives from all estates to participate. During these meetings, the voting would take place in order of social class. Because of this, the National Assembly was created so that the third estate was able to have their own say. The National Assembly did away with many old ways and wrote many new laws. The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen granted many new freedoms to France as well as national sovereignty. On July 14th in 1789 common people fought against army soldiers in a blood bath in Bastille. This marked the beginning of the French Revolution, as common people saw what happened and starting fighting back in any way possible. A national Guard of the people was established to take out local governments and set up their own stable governments. The French Royal family tried to flee the country to get support but ended up getting arrested which inspired hatred for many people towards the royal family. The king and queen were put on trial for treason and called for the execution of them. Tensions escalated as a series of wars broke out in Europe. The Terror was created and conceived as a radicalism killing group as they brutally killed many innocent people. Around this time, France tried to take steps toward a functioning republic. A temporary 5 year Directory Government was set in place with 5 people ruling all as

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