69 10 1079 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Sire, At a time when the different orders of the state are occupied with their interests; when everyone seeks to make the most of his titles and rights; when some anxiously recall the centuries of servitude and anarchy, while others make every effort to shake off the last links that still bind them to the imperious remains of feudalism; women—continual objects of the admiration and scorn of men—could they not also make their voices heard midst this general agitation? Excluded from the national assemblies by laws so well consolidated that they allow no hope of infringement, they do not ask, Sire, for your permission to send their deputies to the Estates-General; they know too well how much favor will play a part in the election, and how easy it would be for those elected to impede the freedom of voting. We prefer, Sire, to place our cause at your feet; not wishing to obtain anything except from your heart, it is to it that we address our complaints and confide our miseries. The women of the Third Estate are almost all born without wealth; their education is very neglected or very defective: it consists in their being sent to school with a teacher who himself does not know the first word of the language [Latin] he teaches. They continue to go there until they can read the service of the Mass in French and Vespers in Latin. Having fulfilled the first duties of religion, they are taught to work; having reached the age of fifteen or sixteen, they can earn five or six sous a day. If nature has refused them beauty they get married, without a dowry, to unfortunate artisans; lead aimless, difficult lives stuck in the provinces; and give birth to children they are incapable of raising. If, on the contrary, they are born pretty, without breeding, without principles, with no idea of morals, they become the prey of the first seducer, commit a first sin, come to Paris to bury their shame, end by losing it altogether, and die victims of dissolute ways. Today, when the difficulty of subsisting forces thousands of them to put themselves up for auction [prostitution], when men find it easier to buy them for a short time than to win them over forever, those whom a fortunate penchant inclines to virtue, who are consumed by the desire to learn, who feel themselves carried along by a natural taste, who have overcome the deficiencies of their education and know a little of everything without having learned anything, those, finally, whom a lofty soul, a noble heart, and a pride of sentiment cause to be called prudes, are obliged to throw themselves into cloisters where only a modest dowry is required, or forced to become servants if they do not have enough courage, enough heroism, to share the generous devotion of the girls of Vincent de Paul.* Also, many, solely because they are born girls, are disdained by their parents, who refuse to set them up, preferring to concentrate their fortune in the hands of a son whom they designate to carry on their name in the capital; for Your Majesty should know that we too have names to keep up. Or, if old age finds them spinsters, they spend it in tears and see themselves the object of the scorn of their nearest relatives. To prevent so many ills, Sire, we ask that men not be allowed, under any pretext, to exercise trades that are the prerogative of women—whether as seamstress, embroiderer, millinery shopkeeper, etc., etc.; if we are left at least with the needle and the spindle, we promise never to handle the compass or the square. We ask, Sire, that your benevolence provide us with the means of making the most of the talents with which nature will have endowed us, notwithstanding the impediments which are forever being placed on our education. May you assign us positions, which we alone will be able to fill, which we will occupy only after having passed a strict examination, following trustworthy inquiries concerning the purity of our morals. We ask to be enlightened, to have work, not in order to usurp men's authority, but in order to be better esteemed by them, so that we might have the means of living safe from misfortune and so that poverty does not force the weakest among us, who are blinded by luxury and swept along by example, to join the crowd of unfortunate women who overpopulate the streets and whose debauched audacity disgraces our sex and the men who keep them company. We would wish this class of women might wear a mark of identification. Today, when they adopt even the modesty of our dress, when they mingle everywhere in all kinds of clothing, we often find ourselves confused with them; some men make mistakes and make us blush because of their scorn. They should never be able to take off the identification under pain of working in public workshops for the benefit of the poor (it is known that work is the greatest punishment that can be inflicted on them). . . . . [in text] However, it occurs to us that the empire of fashion would be destroyed and one would run the risk of seeing many too many women dressed in the same color. We implore you, Sire, to set up free schools where we might learn our language on the basis of principles, religion and ethics. May one and the other be offered to us in all their grandeur, entirely stripped of the petty applications which attenuate their majesty; may our hearts be formed there; may we be taught above all to practice the virtues of our sex: gentleness, modesty, patience, charity. As for the arts that please, women learn them without teachers. Sciences? . . . [in text] they serve only to inspire us with a stupid pride, lead us to pedantry, go against the wishes of nature, make of us mixed beings who are rarely faithful wives and still more rarely good mothers of families. We ask to take leave of ignorance, to give our children a sound and reasonable education so as to make of them subjects worthy of serving you. We will teach them to cherish the beautiful name of Frenchmen; we will transmit to them the love we have for Your Majesty. For we are certainly willing to leave valor and genius to men, but we will always challenge them over the dangerous and precious gift of sensibility; we defy them to love you better than we do. They run to Versailles, most of them for their interests, while we, Sire, go to see you there, and when with difficulty and with pounding hearts, we can gaze for an instance upon your August Person, tears flow from our eyes. The idea of Majesty, of the Sovereign, vanishes, and we see in you only a tender Father, for whom we would give our lives a thousand times. * St. Vincent de Paul organized communities for women who served as schoolteachers, nurses, and the like. They took simple vows, did not wear religious costumes, and worked outside in the community rather than staying in their convent. These communities often appealed to poor women but demanded hard work. Sortable Date 1789-01-01 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The materials listed below appeared originally in The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History, translated, edited, and with an introduction by Lynn Hunt (Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1996), 60–63. Description An account of the resource Little is known about women’s grievances or feelings in the months leading up to the meeting of the Estates–General in November 1789. They did not have the right to meet as a group, draft grievances, or vote (except in isolated individual instances) in the preparatory elections. Nevertheless, some women did put their thoughts to paper, and though little evidence exists about the circumstances or the identities of those involved, the few documents offering their views bear witness to their concerns in this time of ferment. In this document working women addressed the King in respectful terms and carefully insisted that they did not wish to overturn men’s authority; they simply wanted the education and enlightenment that would make them better workers, better wives, and better mothers. The petitioners expressed their deep apprehensions about prostitution and the fear that they would be confused with them; like prostitutes, working women did not stay at home but necessarily entered the public sphere to make their livings. Most of all, however, the women wanted to be heard; they saw the opening created by the convocation of the Estates–General and hoped to make their own claims for inclusion in the promised reforms. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 279 Title A name given to the resource Petition of Women of the Third Estate to the King (1 January 1789) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/279/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 1, 1789 Monarchy Popular Politics Public Opinion Text Women https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/66a6c2fe53305d92fe37150d7876eef7.jpg b48ca7f9377d3e02f2b713367554ab65 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Title (French) The image's title, in French. Place Vendôme Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Etching and colored wash Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 17.2 x 24.4 cm Caption The image's caption. Le plus Grand, des Despotes, Renversé par la Liberté (Place Vendôme) Caption (English) The image's caption, in English. The Greatest of Despots Overthrown by Freedom Sortable Date 1792-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bibliothèque Nationale de France Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource None Identified Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG Language A language of the resource French Title A name given to the resource Place Vendôme, The Greatest of Despots Overthrown by Freedom Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/1135/|de Vinck. Un siècle d'histoire de France par l'estampe, 1770-1870. Vol. 29 (pièces 4856-5017), Ancien Régime et Révolution Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1792 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1135 Image Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Name of a political grouping of uncommitted deputies. See Mountain. The Mountain, or Montagnards, competed during the Terror against the Girondins, with both trying to attract the Plain. The Mountain was a group of deputies from Paris to the National Convention who sat together on the high benches to the left of the chair’s podium. During the fall of 1792 and particularly during the trial of the King, this group emerged as a faction allied with the Commune of Paris and the popular movement that demanded radical measures, among them the death of the King. The Montagnards fought the Girondins for power in Paris and in the Convention. In between the two factions in the meeting hall of the Convention sat the “Plain” who comprised the majority of deputies. During the trial of the King in which the Mountain led the fight to put the King to death, the Montagnards slowly won influence from the Girondins, and over the course of the spring of 1793, they became the dominant group in the Convention. The term has since been applied to anyone willing to use political terror in the name of a revolutionary cause. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1108 Title A name given to the resource Plain Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/1108/ Glossary https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/639ef4e8ac3433b2173ef0defd69977a.jpg 6d94c7f72e8a94907add3bb396c2647a Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived mfr 86.45 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 26 Title A name given to the resource Plate: 'I Watch over the Nation.' Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/26/ Image Popular Politics https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/40626df7761f1870a54c2aac8355ee94.jpg 0f3f21be5cf6b74ebf8f7c0705539b25 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Sortable Date 1914-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived mfr 86.152 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 29 Title A name given to the resource Plate: 1914–17 Quimper china Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/29/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1914-1917 Image Popular Politics https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/bf8445217b515328159d158471b11bf6.jpg 2d977c9b6f40ed85858f7362fc0a760b Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived mfr 86.4.1 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 25 Title A name given to the resource Plate: Long Live the Nation Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/25/ Image Monarchy Popular Politics Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Police Report on a Session of the Cordelier Club 24 Ventôse Year II (16 March 1794) At the opening of the session, a member demanded that those Cordeliers who would be missing a session while the Club was in continuous session should be expelled from the society. This motion was vigorously opposed and defeated. . . . On all sides people asked for correspondence to be read out, but none had arrived. A member who just happened to have Saint-Just's latest report in his pocket mounted the rostrum and read it. This kept the society busy for an hour. Next it was announced that the caretaker had received letters addressed to Vincent. The society had them brought in and decided that a deputation should take them to the Public Prosecutor. . . . The society had only closed its permanent session because several of its members had been arrested, and since no speaker had introduced the topic, the decision was postponed, and there would be sessions only on normal days. Session closed at 9:30. Observations The habitués of the gallery, i.e., those who occupy the front benches, said nothing. They no longer spoke of rescuing the arrested members from prison. The other people in the gallery said openly that the Père Duchesne and the others were knaves who deserved the guillotine. They rejoiced in anticipation of the moment when they would see them suffer. These demonstrations of joy can be found among the whole people of Paris: in the markets; on the street corners; everywhere, they say the same. This desire to see the conspirators punished proves how attached the people are to liberty. They regret that there is no more rigorous form of execution than the guillotine. They say that something should be invented to make them suffer longer. Condemnation is general. The day before yesterday several people took up their defense, but yesterday they were afraid to declare their possible innocence. Sortable Date 1794-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived W. Markov and Albert Soboul, Die Sanculotten von Paris Dokumente zur Geschichte ver Voksbewegung (1957), no. 69. Description An account of the resource In the passage below, a police observer of a Cordelier Club meeting notes the ongoing concern of the participants to identify and then to denounce "conspiracies" against the republic, even when the conspitators had been very recently integral to the club. In this case, the focus is on Hébert, editor of the Père Duchesne. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 403 Title A name given to the resource Police Report on a Session of the Cordeliers Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/403/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 16, 1794 Clubs Popular Politics Sans-culottes Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document In Year Two of the French Republic, on February 24th, at 8 A.M., in 1793, we, Silvain Guillaume Boula [?], commissaire de police, assisted by André Lirey [?] Caillouet, secretary-registrar for the Section de l'Arsenal, as a result of remarks that were being heard everywhere, went through the streets of our arrondissement. We heard nothing but assurances concerning goods of prime necessity. Having made this round several times, we saw nothing openly contrary to public order. We received a letter from the police administration relative to bread. We believed we ought to hold off executing it after we conferred with the Committee. Recorded at 7 P.M., same day, same month noted above. Signed [secretary's and commissaire's signatures appended] And the following day, the twenty-fifth of the same month, same year, at 7 A.M., we went, still assisted by the citizen-secretary-registrar, to the doors of the bakers in our Section to see whether bread deliveries were being made without incident and to take remedial action, if possible. We had the satisfaction of seeing that the measures we had taken the night before, in joint action with the Committee, had produced the full effect we were hoping for. Consequently, we returned to the Committee to find out whether there wasn't some new order, and finding none, we returned to our arrondissement. There wasn't what you would call a tumult, but [rather] small groupings of citizens and citoyennes at intervals. In some [of these groups] it was being said, "The bakers were rascals and deserved to be worked over." In others, "The grocers deserved the same, because they were hoarders," and finally, in others, "The majority of those who were directing the Republic were also rascals." And among others [there was] a drunk citizen who made himself conspicuous by saying, "We used to have only one king, and now there are thirty or forty of them." We did everything we could to restore calm in these groups. We succeeded in some; it was impossible in others; and lastly, it was folly in still others. All this [was happening] without our being able to arrest any of the leaders, who were absolutely unknown to us and not from this Section. We returned to the Committee at 1 P.M. after having spent the whole morning on the business detailed above. But at about 2 P.M. word reached us that a crowd was on the way to Citizen Rousseau's shop on the Quai des Armes. We went there at once, still accompanied by the citizen-secretary, and notwithstanding the crowding, we got through to the counter. We climbed up onto it, and having called for silence in the name of the law, we got it. We took advantage of this to recall the oath to protect the safety of persons and properties. We couldn't keep this up, because we were interrupted by cries and apostrophies of all kinds, as much against us as against Citizen Rousseau and his grocery boy, who, at the beginning, had been imprudent enough to brutally push back a pregnant woman, even threatening to string her up from a beam. Five citizens from the [National] Guard arrived. They could not do anything, not even speak. This was a dangerous moment. We supported for the moment a demand to inspect the house made by citizens and citoyennes designated for this purpose. That was the business of the moment. We were even forced to accompany them. This inspection was made calmly enough, except for a few remarks. They wanted to inspect Citizen Arnoult's place as well, on the pretext that the aforementioned Rousseau had hidden his merchandise there. This inspection was agreed to by Citoyenne Arnoult. When we returned, we saw an officer, Citizen Colmet, arrive, accompanied by several armed citizens, who tried in vain to restore order. They retreated shortly afterwards. And finally, there was a woman of fairly good appearance, unknown to me but whom we would recognize perfectly. She was about five feet, one inch tall, thirty years old, with blond hair, white skin, and slightly red eyes. She wore her hair in a demi-bonnet to which a rose-colored ribbon was attached. She was dressed in a déshabillé made out of linen with a blue background and a standard design on it. She wore a mantle of black taffeta and a gold watch on a steel chain. The way we knew she had one [a watch] was that when she emerged from the crowd and came over to the counter, she looked for her watch, [and] drew it out, saying, "I thought it had been taken." This woman did everything in her power to add to the sedition. She had gone on the inspection. And once they returned, it was she who set the price for soap at twelve sous per livre; and for sugar at eighteen. After that, the aforementioned merchandise on hand at the aforementioned Rousseau's place was handed over with an unbelievable impetuosity. Everyone wanted to pay, to be waited on, and to get out, all at the same time. We were compelled to take in the cash in order to prevent a total loss. The aforementioned woman took the aforementioned goods, for which she paid us, and we barely had the time to take in the money, hand over the goods, and put the money in the drawer. In this crowd of citizens and citoyennes we couldn't observe everyone attentively enough to be able to point out anyone except for the woman described above. We clearly recognized some of the citoyennes from our Section, but it would be impossible for us to recall the faces and descriptions except for Citizen Jolly, captain of the company in this Section, who is known to be a good patriot, whom we saw near the aforementioned counter and who, like everyone else, was paying the prices noted above, and who took some soap. We didn't hear him say anything relevant to the circumstance. And we believe absolutely that he was there only because of the perfidious advice of some enemies of the public good, whom he took for patriots and who, knowing how to wrap themselves in this cloak, could address themselves only to citizens whose pure hearts dictated that they would be unable to uncover the foulness of which they [these enemies of the people] are capable. Several citizens having signaled us to get out fast, we left and went to the shop of Citizen Blauguernon [?] also a grocer, on the rue de l'Etoile, where we had the good luck to calm the people. On demand we went to the shop of Citizen Cain, also a grocer, on the rue Saint-Antoine, where, again, notwithstanding the numbers, we reached the counter. Our call and entreaty got us a hearing, which allowed us to recall the most recent oath, but in vain, the tumult and the cries indicating [?] that the time for oaths had passed and that what was necessary was the goods. Once again we believed it was our duty to call for the necessary calm and order. We were heard, and we spoke for about five minutes. We were listened to with pleasure, and calm was restored. We left, and it might have been about five o'clock when we were asked once again to go the Quai des Armes, given that there was a new crowd of citizens there. We went there immediately. And once there, we saw what we were told we would see. But we had brought along with us many armed citizens who dispersed this mob. We saw there a citoyenne, well dressed, who was influencing people and stirring up trouble. Having listened to her during a period allowed for this moment, we apprehended her, calling upon constituted armed force for support. [There followed] another perilous moment, given that the people were opposed to her being taken away. Finally we brought her before the Committee, where we drew up a procès-verbal, and we sent this citoyenne to the commissaire de police of the Section de la Maison Commune so that whatever the laws dictate might be done. Once this business had been attended to, we left, and seeing a tumult at the door of Citizen Houllier's shop, we once again restored calm, having called in advance for a cavalry patrol to carry out our orders, which they did. And then we went to the shops of Citizens Cain, Lessard, and Prevot, also grocers on the rue Saint-Antoine, where the tumult was almost over, and having called upon all these citizens to close their shops at nine o'clock, having even handed them over, under consignment, to Captain Roquet, we returned at last to the Committee at 8 P.M. without any notable incidents, and we were fully convinced that the People are always good. It has been tricked for hundreds of years now, but it has lost neither heart nor its love for the general good. It requires only to be educated and it will do and sacrifice everything once it is led along a route where it will see an end to its misfortunes, and the hope of attaining happiness, if only for its posterity. Drawn up and concluded on the day, month, and year indicated above. Signed [signatures of secretary and commissaire appended] And the twenty-sixth of the same month and year indicated above, still accompanied by the citizen-secretary-registrar, we toured, during the course of the day, all the streets in the Section, and as a large proportion of the citizens were under arms, and as successive patrols were set up, nothing noteworthy occurred. We can offer assurances that things were quiet during the night. Consequently, we drew up the present [report] to be seen and be of value, as reason dictates. Terminated at 8 p.m. same day and year as indicated above. Signed [signatures of secretary and commissaire appended] Sortable Date 1793-02-24 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From Women in Revolutionary Paris, 1789–1795, edited and translated by Darline Gay Levy, Harriet Branson Applewhite, and Mary Durham Johnson. Copyright 1979 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with the permission of the University of Illinois Press, 137–141. Description An account of the resource The reports of the Paris police provide firsthand information about conditions in the city and about the leading role of women in food disturbances. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 480 Title A name given to the resource Police Reports on Disturbances over Food Supplies (February 1793) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/480/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 24, 1793 Economic Conditions Sans-culottes Text Women Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document It has been established from various reports relative to yesterday that groups in the squares, in the streets, and in public places, as well as gatherings at bakers' doors, were as numerous as they were tumultuous and extremely agitated. The women, above all, seemed to be playing the principal role there; they were taunting the men, treating them as cowards, and seemed unwilling to be satisfied with the portion that was offered to them. A large number of them wanted to rush into insurrection; even the majority appeared to be determined to attack the constituted authorities, and notably the government Committees, which would have happened were it not for the prudence and firmness of the armed troops. One can easily convince oneself of what has just been reported by glancing attentively and impartially at several reports which bear witness [to this understanding of the situation]. 1. In [the report] signed Marceau, who reports having heard it said, "That will make for civil war; that's all we're asking for; is it also possible to live with two ounces of bread? Aren't they doing this on purpose?" he adds that in other gatherings they all said, "The Convention had better put some order into all that; it's about time." He sums up by saying that heads are dangerously inflamed. 2. In [the report] signed Bouillon, here are the phrases, verbatim: "Yesterday a multitude of women from the Section des Piques, after having refused the portion of bread being offered to them, went to the Committee of the Section and from there to the Convention. They stopped all the women they met on their way and forced them to join up with them." 3. Citizen Compere, in his report, confirms the above assertion and adds more alarming occurrences. . . . Surveillance. . . . [sic] Bellier reports that at the horse market last night some women were saying that they must go en masse to the Convention to demand a king in order to have bread; the same report states that at 9 P.M., near the Pont Notre Dame, there was a group of two hundred people who were speaking the same language. This inspector was called before the Convention to be reprimanded for his apathy or his carelessness in not having followed the individuals who were making these remarks. A special watch has been set up for this purpose [sic]. Signed Beurlier, Duret Sortable Date 1795-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From Women in Revolutionary Paris, 1789–1795, edited and translated by Darline Gay Levy, Harriet Branson Applewhite, and Mary Durham Johnson. Copyright 1979 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with the permission of the University of Illinois Press, 287–288. Description An account of the resource Agitation over the shortage of bread reached a breaking point in the spring of 1795. Women played critical roles in these disturbances, as they had before the Revolution. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 492 Title A name given to the resource Police Reports on Women’s Discontent (Spring 1795) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/492/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1795 Popular Politics Text Women Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The "real" National Assembly does not always hold its sessions on the merry-go-round. Divided into more or less numerous groups, they often sit along the Feuillants terrace [the former convent of the Cistercian order, located near the Tuileries], and along the flower beds adjacent to the Tuileries gardens. They also often deliberate around the pond at the Palais Royale. It is in these roving clubs that the pure flame of patriotism burns the brightest. It is there that the public conscience and the majority opinion are elaborated. It is there that the fruit of these ongoing lectures is harvested. It is there that one has to go for the clear thoughts of the People, this People outrageously slandered by those who had always held them at the greatest possible distance. For the philosopher who has not given up on the long-debased human race, Paris offers the most satisfying view of man's emulation. Almost all of the National Assembly's decrees that have a large element of common sense are basically those that echoed motions from the people. On the other hand, the constitutional decisions, or the other decisions that left something to be desired, were precisely those that were farthest from what the people, in their wisdom, had decided. The decree on the silver coin, that on the law of war and peace, that on the royal veto, that on the Nancy scandal which was badly presented, the firing of the ministers which was not deliberated, etc., etc.: all these denials given to public opinion were disowned in advance by the People passing motions in the street. The three great days of our Revolution bore witness to more than the three preceding centuries had ever seen. That sudden insurrection of Sunday, July 12th, continued over to Monday, was then taken to its apex on the 14th. . . . [F]or which causes is France indebted to this salutary effort? For the motions of the Palais Royale that had taken place for a month between the bayonets; for the stunning satisfaction that the people of Paris went to demand from the chateau of Versailles; for the sacrilegious scandal brought down upon the national sovereignty; and for that memorable night of 5–6 October, which was the night of the final judgment for a number of people who had raised themselves above the law and based their small strange pleasures on general disaster? This generous movement, that etched terror into the souls of the cowards at court who were considering a civil war is due to the People's sense of righteousness. Good people of France! You can become the premier country in the world. You have started the most beautiful revolution in the history of mankind, and it is up to you to take it to its end. Continue to go to public places, assemble often, unburden yourselves of your boring and monotonous drudgery, and consecrate your leisure time and your days of rest to the discussion of the nation's interests and the examination of your leaders' conduct. Let none of the political currents that take place around you go unnoticed. Be strangers to nothing. Let your dignity enfold you, know the extent of your power, and multiply the light of your wisdom by stringing together the sparks of genius of each and every individual that makes up your imposing mass. Of all your weapons, there is not one with a caliber equal to that of education. Education is the refuge of your independence. Good people of France! Cultivate your own reasoning. Set up patriotic lectures at the heart of every town and in the countryside. If the local priest refuses to turn over the pulpit, or if he mixes the wheat and the chaff, let the most able father assemble his children and his neighbors under the church porch or on the threshold of his cottage and read the decrees from the National Assembly so that they may be discussed by those present. Let each person improvise in his own way, without any other aim but that of the public good. And soon the simplest of men, guided by that moral instinct with which nature has blessed all thinking beings, will be in a position to appreciate things and people for their true worth. Over time, these small committees will become a type of country court where you can summon your leaders to appear to face natural reason. Then it will not be so easy to be fooled by the questionable character of the many ambitious but clever people, nor to be dragged into situations that are against your most vital interests. Then you will be truly worthy of this national sovereignty that a handful of ministerial brigands has shamelessly taken from you. Then, you will renounce the worship of cult figures. Good People, it is only then that it will be superfluous to tell you what now requires a little repeating. Sortable Date 1790-10-23 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Révolutions de Paris, no. 68 (23 October 1790), 116. Description An account of the resource In the view of the most radical commentators, such as those writing for the newspaper Révolutions de Paris, the Revolution had to be the work of more than just the deputies of the National Assembly; it had to be an effort of the common people. To encourage that effort, the newspaper here calls upon all good patriots to form groups in their towns and villages whose purpose will be to debate the major issues of the day, form opinions on them, and, most important, hold demonstratations so as to make certain that the National Assembly will hear of the input of the "good people" of France and not merely that of the "aristocrats." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 372 Title A name given to the resource Populace Awake Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/372/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 23, 1790 Clubs Popular Politics Sans-culottes Text The Terror