Reign Of Terror Research Paper

The Reign of Terror was an event that happened within the French Revolution. To understand the Reign of Terror, you must understand the events that occurred before it. Before and during the French Revolution, which began in 1789, there were three classes, or estates, which doesn’t include royalty, that existed in France. The First Estate consisted of bishops, priests, monks, etc., which was only about two percent of the population. The Second Estate, which held about one to two percent of the population, included noble men and women. There were two types of nobles, three if you include those called ‘hobereaux’, or ‘old bird.’ Nobles of the robe earned their titles for the completion of public service, but nobles of the sword earned their titles

He was nicknamed the Incorruptible for his defense of the Third Estate, attacks on the monarchy, and opposition to slavery. In 1788, Robespierre became Estates General of the French legislature by election. In 1790, he also played a part in how the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was written. Maximilien Robespierre led the Committee of Public Safety and wrote the Law of Suspects in the September of 1793, which were the things needed to make someone a suspect of belief in the monarchy. If suspected, they would need to be taken into custody to be tried and executed, if found guilty, by the guillotine. In an ironic twist, Maximilien was overthrown and killed by the guillotine in 1794 for the cause of up to 40,000 or more deaths, just for their beliefs in the monarchy. For a clearer picture, the Law of Suspects, published by Maximilien Robespierre in September of 1973, stated that anyone who openly showed their support of the monarchy were to be taken into custody and tried as an enemy of liberty. If their certificate of patriotism was refused, the same fate could occur. This especially included former nobles or servants of the monarchy. With these rules in place, over 40,000 lives were given to the guillotine. Later on, as told earlier in this paper, Maximilien was sent to the guillotine himself, which signaled the end of the Reign of Terror, but not the French