"Terror Is the Order of the Day"
Responding to pressure from the sections, the Convention voted on 5 September 1793, to declare that "Terror is the Order of the Day," meaning that the government, through internal "revolutionary armies" that were formed two days later,should and would use force against its own citizens to ensure compliance with its laws, including the law of the Maximum.
<i>Réimpression de l'ancien Moniteur</i>, 32 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1858-63), 17:580-83, 586, 591.
September 5, 1793
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<i>Champ de Mars</i>: Petitions of the Cordelier and Jacobin Clubs
In the aftermath of the King’s failed flight in June 1791, the more radical clubs circulated petitions calling on the National Assembly to depose the King rather than grant him executive power as a constitutional monarch, under the new constitution. Below are excerpts from two such petitions, from the Cordeliers and Jacobin clubs, respectively; note that these efforts technically violated a law passed the previous 10 May, which had proscribed the circulation of petitions by clubs.
Albert Mathiez,<i> Le Club des Cordeliers pendant la crise de Varennes et le massacre du Champ de Mars</i> (Geneva: Slatkine, 1975), 45–47, 135–36.
July 14, 1791
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<i>Curious Proposal of the Women of the Maubert Marketplace</i> (1785)
As a result of the "libels" against the court and especially the Queen, asense was spreading that the monarchy was not fulfilling its obligations inruling over France. Demonstrating that sentiment, this pamphlet is writtenin the voice of Parisian working women from the open–air market of theplace Maubert. It describes how such hardworking, salt–of–the–earth,honest, family–oriented women could do a better job raising the Dauphinthan the Queen, thus suggesting that the future of the realm should beentrusted to its people rather than the royal family.
Anonymous, Motion curieuse des dames de la place Maubert (Paris:Guillaume, 1785)..
1785
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<i>Declaration of Independence</i>, 1776
The author of the <i>Declaration of Independence</i>, Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), was deeply influenced by the European Enlightenment. He spent many years in Paris and was just as much at home among European intellectuals as he was on his plantation in Virginia. Although a slaveholder, Jefferson wrote eloquently about freedom for the colonists. Even though it was not an official part of the <i>U.S. Constitution</i>, promulgated years later, the <i>Declaration of Independence</i> captures many of the chief ideals of the American revolutionaries and demonstrates the depth of their belief in "unalienable rights."
Paul Leicester Ford, ed., <i>The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, </i>vol. 2 (1776–81) (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), 42–58.
July 4, 1776
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<i>Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man and Citizen</i>, Constitution of the Year III (1795)
After the fall of Robespierre and the dismantling of the Terror, the National Convention drafted yet another republican constitution. The new constitution was also approved in a referendum and put into effect 26 October 1795. It remained until Napoleon came to power in November 1799. Note that this declaration links duties with rights. It also drops the references to welfare and public assistance and emphasizes family obligations (Art. 4 among duties) for the first time. This declaration also makes clear that "men" refers to males only.
Frank Maloy Anderson, ed., <i>The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France 1789–1901</i> (Minneapolis: H. W. Wilson, 1904), 170–74.
1795
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<i>Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen</i> from the Constitution of the Year I (1793)
The National Convention drew up this new declaration of rights to attach to the republican constitution of 1793. The constitution was ratified in a referendum, but never put into operation. It was suspended for the duration of the war and then replaced by a new constitution in 1795. Note the contrast with the original <i>Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen</i>; this one places more emphasis on welfare and public assistance (see article 21).
Frank Maloy Anderson, ed., <i>The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France 1789–1901</i> (Minneapolis: H. W. Wilson, 1904), 170–74.
1793
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<i>Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen</i>, 26 August 1789
Once they had agreed on the necessity of drafting a declaration of rights, the deputies of the National Assembly still faced the daunting task of composing one that a majority could accept. The debate raised several questions: should the declaration be short and limited to general principles or should it rather include a long explanation of the significance of each article; should the declaration include a list of duties or only rights; and what precisely were "the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man"? After several days of debate and voting, the deputies decided to suspend their deliberations on the declaration, having agreed on seventeen articles. These laid out a new vision of government, in which protection of natural rights replaced the will of the King as the justification for authority. Many of the reforms favored by Enlightenment writers appeared in the declaration: freedom of religion, freedom of the press, no taxation without representation, elimination of excessive punishments, and various safeguards against arbitrary administration.
The materials listed below appeared originally in <i>The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History, </i>translated, edited, and with an introduction by Lynn Hunt (Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1996), 77–79.
August 26, 1789
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10 August 1792
This print shows the attack on the Tuileries Palace, which housed the royal family. Although the place was well–defended, many troops simply defected. When the artillery quit, the King and his family hastened across to the nearby meeting hall of the Legislative Assembly for protection. But the battle continued when a number of the defenders—particularly the Swiss guard—resisted. A full–scale engagement ensued with some 600 Swiss killed and about double the number of insurgents dead. Casualties notwithstanding, the attackers won. The victory sealed the demise of the monarchy and ensured that it would be replaced by a republic.
Cornell 4606.17.6
August 10, 1792
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A British Observer of the September Massacres
A British diplomat in Paris here describes, in dispatches back to London, the goings–on in Paris in early September, in light of news of advances by the Duke of Brunswick’s Prussian forces toward the capital. This diplomat was naturally most concerned with reporting the readiness of the Parisians to resist the British, which is evident in his focus on the National Assembly’s call to arms and the outbreak of popular violence.
Oscar Browning, ed., <i>The Despatches of Earl Gower</i> (Cambridge University Press, 1885), 213–16, 219–21, 223–28.
September 3, 1792
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A Conqueror of the Bastille Speaks
Having assembled at the traditional protest place in front of the City Hall, known as<i> place des grèves </i>(meaning sandbar, which it was, but which has come to mean "strike"), the crowd set off in search of ammunition. Eventually arriving at the Bastille, the crowd demanded that the few guardians of the fortress surrender. One participant, Keversau, here describes in heroic terms the event that came to symbolize the outbreak of the Revolution—the "taking of the Bastille."
Georges Pernoud and Sabine Flaissier, eds., <i>The French Revolution</i>, trans. Richard Graves (New York: Capricorn Books, 1961), 31–37.
July 14, 1789
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