Week 1 The French Experience

Question 1

Estates-General

Answer 1

The representative body of the three estates in France. In 1789, King Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General to meet for the first time since 1614 because it seemed to be the only solution to France’s worsening economic crisis and financial chaos.

Question 2

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

Answer 2

1. What – The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the citizen was a charter issued by the National Assembly. This charter later became the preamble of the new constitution (1791).
2. When – First Stages of the French Revolution, September 1789
3. Where – France, The National Assembly
4. Significance:
   
   • It declared freedom of speech, religious toleration, and liberty of the press inviolable.
   • All citizens were to be treated equally before the law. No one was to be imprisoned or punished without due process.
   • Sovereignty resided within the people and nation
   • All citizens, being equal in its eyes, are equally admissible to all public dignities, positions, and employments, according to their ability.
5. Textbook Page Number – 589 – 591

Question 3

Reign of Terror (1793-1794)

Answer 3

Campaign at the hight of the French Revolution in which violence, including systematic executions of opponents of the revolution, was used to purge France of its “enemies” and to extend the revolution beyond its borders; radicals executed as many as 40,000 persons who were judged enemies of the state.

Question 4

Louis XVI (1754-1793)

Answer 4

Well-meaning but ineffectual king of France, finally deposed and executed during the French Revolution.

Question 5

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

Answer 5

Corsican-born French General who seized power and ruled as dictator from 1799 to 1814. After the successful conquest of much of Europe, he was defeated by Russian and Prussian forces and died in exile.

Question 6

Haitian Revolution (1802-1804)

Answer 6

In 1802, Napoleon sought to reassert French control of Saint-Domingue, but stiff resistance and yellow fever crushed the French army. In 1804, Jean Jacques Dessalines, a general in the army of former slaves, declared independent state of Haiti.