French Rev. P1

popular sovereignty

The political idea that power comes from the people, not God, and that it remains with the people.

separation of powers

The political concept, advocated by Montesquieu, where government’s powers are divided into different branches, such as executive and legislative.

American Revolution

The first successful revolt by a colony against rule by a European mother country, resulting in an American victory and the establishment of the first federal republic in history.

French and Indian War

The North American theater (region) of the Seven Years’ War, fought between Britain and its American colonies against France and its colonies, ending in a major British victory.

Declaration of Independence

Political document inspired by Locke's social contract theory, written by Thomas Jefferson, laying out reasons for American rejection of British rule.

First Estate

Pre-Revolutionary term for the Catholic clergy of France.

Second Estate

Pre-Revolutionary term for the nobility of France.

Third Estate

Pre-Revolutionary term for the masses of French society, including peasants, bourgeoisie, and the urban poor.

peasants

Rural, agricultural free laborers belonging to one of the lower classes.

sans-culottes

A slang term referring to the urban working poor during the French Revolution.

bourgeoisie

The urban, educated middle and upper classes in society.

taille

A hated tax paid only by common people in France, not by the clergy and nobility.

Estates-General

The historic parliament of France that the king could consult, lacking the same powers as the British Parliament.

cahiers de doleances

Lists of grievances drawn up by the three estates, demanding reforms like fair taxation and equal voting rights by the delegates of the 3rd estate.

National Assembly

The new parliament of France formed by delegates of the Third Estate, ending the Estates-General.

Tennis Court Oath

An oath taken on June 20, 1789, by members of the National Assembly swearing not to disband until a constitution for France was written.

militias

A military force composed of civilians rather than professional soldiers, usually formed in emergencies.

Bastille

A fortress in Paris that served as a hated prison, stormed by a mob on July 14, 1789, marking a major event of the Revolution.

Great Fear

In the summer of 1789 a panic swept across France that the nobility was going to crush the new Revolution.  Angry peasant mobs attacked the estates of the nobles and burned many to the ground.

manorial obligations

These were ancient requirements that peasants needed to work several days each month on the lands of the nobility.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Written by delegates of the National Assembly during the summer of 1789, this is the first constitution of France.  It promised equal rights for all French men.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

This is considered to be one of the first mistakes of the Revolution.  This law required all French Catholic clergy to swear an oath of loyalty to the nation over the Church.  It turned the Church into an enemy of the Revolution.

metric system

The most common system of measurement used in the world.  It uses the meter, liter, and gram as units of measure.  It was first adopted by France during the Revolution.

“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”

This became the famous three-word motto of the Revolution; it sums up the ideals of the Revolution.

Women’s March

On October 5, 1789 thousands of Parisian poor women marched to Versailles to demand that King Louis XVI do something to lower the price of bread.  It grew violent.  The women forced the King and his family to leave Versailles and return to Paris.

Haitian Revolution

This was the first successful slave revolt against European rule to occur.  It began in 1791 when Black slaves overwhelmed the French planters in the Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue.  The slave rebels established the first Black ruled republic in world history and successfully defended their independence against Napoleon’s attempt to reestablish French control.

inflation

A general increase in prices and a decline in the purchasing power of money.

emigres

French term for those French nobles who fled from revolutionary France and went to other European nations.  Many helped the foreign powers against France.

Declaration of Pillnitz

A 1792 agreement between Austria and Prussia pledging to work together to crush the Revolution and to restore the old order in France.