Sans Culottes In French Revolution

The sans-culottes were individuals that were willing “to spill his blood to the last drop for the safety of the Republic” (Anonymous, What is a sans-culotte?, p. 01). These individuals were “urban militants who played such an important role in the Revolution’s radical phase” (Soboul in Popkin, Short History of the French Revolution, p. 125). The sans-culottes saw themselves as ideal citizens of the Republic. The ideal citizen of the Republic is one “who lives day to day by the sweat of his brow [and] in the evening after he has worked hard all day he goes to his section” (Père Duchesne, “Sans-Culottes”, p. 01). The individuals who made up the sans-culottes wanted to distinguish themselves from the wealthier French citizens. The sans-culottes were ordinary workers, they wore workers trousers compared to “the educated classes who wore elegant knee-breeches, or culottes” (Popkin, Short History of the French Revolution, p. 57).

The sans-culottes wanted all citizens in France to have equal rights. Their purpose was to get rid of any privileges that would advantage one citizen over another. The main argument of the sans-culottes was, “the Republic should guarantee to each one of it’s citizens the means of procuring enough basic

67). The suspension of the Girondins meant that the Montagnards ran the National Convention. The Montagnard party “brought the sans-culotte movement under control” (Popkin, Short History of the French Revolution, p. 76). The Committee of Public Safety to suppress the sans-culottes “arrested the most prominent spokesmen of the Paris sans-culotte movement” (Popkin, Short History of the French Revolution, p. 75). The actions taken by the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety reflected their attitude that their values were no longer in line with the