French Revolution Dbq Essay

Our modern society has been sculpted by many revolts throughout history. Many governments and ideas have risen to power do to these revolutions. The French revolution began on July 14, 1789 due to the neglect of the people by the french government along with the mistreatment of the lower class. A important phase in the revolution was the Reign of Terror, A period where the government had been taken over by a revolutionary government called the National Convention. This new government rule france with force, executing all who opposed them and outlawing all counter revolutionary ideas and practices. This government was not a monarchy, was against religion and favored a logical way of life, and was set on giving every citizen basic human rights.

The National Convention murdered over 20,000 people, This included previous rulers, counter revolutionaries, and foreign enemies of France. The government at this time had very little tolerance for any rebellious behavior, on January 21, 1793, a public guillotining was held for the execution of King Louis XVI, who was the previous leader of France during the rule of a monarchy. An observer described the event as “... cries of joy from eighty thousand armed men strack my ears . . . . I saw people pass by arm in arm, laughing and chatting familiarly as if they were at a festival.” (Document F). Along with royalty, the National Convention was very strict when it came to rebellion and anti-revolutionary ideas. The Vendee was where many rebels against the rebellion lived. With in this region of france, many battles were fought and with that came many casualties. Historians estimate that between 80,000 and 500,000 french people were killed (Document C). Along with this, the town of Lyons was raided by the revolutionaries. During the raid they destroyed 1,600 home and executed 12 people in just 5 minutes (Document C). Considering this, that means that 520,000 people could have been killed during this period of time. This very unnecessary, the amount of death caused by the Reign of

In order to sustain the number of troops they had; the French commissioned Levee en Masse, a forced military draft for all males (Document A). This takes away a freedom of choice for any male citizen in france at the time. However this was not the only right removed by the National Convention, they outlawed the practice of religion in France as they favored reason, all religious holidays were abolished such as Christmas, and Easter. They launched a revolutionary campaign Auxerre, France in 1793. During the campaign, the revolutionaries “took a copper crucifix which was on the altar. . . . [and] carried it mockingly, upside down on a cart, offering it to passers-by to spit on.” (Document C). Along with all this, the government still continued with the executions of many people; some being falsely