French Revolution test (FRIDAY)

The 1777 battle whose American victory persuaded France to enter a formal military alliance with the colonies.

Battle of Saratoga

British parliamentary laws passed in 1774 to punish Massachusetts by closing Boston Harbor and altering local government.

Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)

The educated, middle-class members of France's Third Estate, including merchants, lawyers, and doctors.

Bourgeoisie

Working-class Parisian radicals ("without knee-breeches") who demanded extreme revolutionary changes.

Sans-culottes

 The June 20, 1789 pledge by Third Estate deputies never to separate until they had written a constitution for France

Tennis Court Oath

The 1765 British parliamentary law placing a direct tax on printed materials and legal documents in the American colonies.

The Stamp Act

A 12-man council led by Maximilien Robespierre that directed government policies and executions during the Reign of Terror.

The Committee of Public Safety

Mass military conscription enacted in 1793 to raise a civilian citizen army to defend France against foreign invaders

Levée en Masse

A sudden, violent overthrow of an existing government, such as Napoleon's seizure of power in November 1799.

Coup d'état

In December 1773, colonists protested the Tea Act by dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, an event known as the

Boston Tea Party

The primary formula for an impact sentence requires stating: What happened so what how it pushed the colonies toward ______________ or military victory.

independence

The final major battle of the American Revolution took place in October 1781 at _________, where American and French forces trapped General Cornwallis.

Yorktown

First Estate: Catholic ______, who made up less than 1% of the population and collected a 10% tithe.

Clergy

Second Estate: French _______, who held major government and military roles and paid almost no taxes.

Nobility

Third Estate: ___________, making up 97–98% of the population, including peasants, urban workers, and the wealthy middle class.

commoners

The main diet staple for most French citizens was _______; when bad harvests in 1787–1788 caused its price to skyrocket, widespread starvation ensued

bread

King Louis XVI was forced to summon the Estates-General on May 5, 1789, because the royal treasury was facing severe debt caused by extravagant court spending and funding foreign wars like the __________________.

American Revolutionary War.

Traditional system: Voting ________ (each estate gets 1 total vote), which allowed the 1st and 2nd Estates to outvote the 3rd Estate 2 to 1.

by order

Third Estate demand: Voting ________ (each delegate gets 1 vote), which would give commoners and reform allies the majority.

by head

On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate declared itself the _________, asserting that it represented the true sovereign power of France.

National Assembly

On July 14, 1789, Parisians stormed the ________, a medieval fort and prison, to secure gunpowder and arms to protect the city against royal forces.

Bastille

In August 1789, the National Assembly issued the _________, declaring that all men are born free and equal in rights.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

On October 5, 1789, thousands of armed Parisian women marched 12 miles to the Palace of __________ demanding bread and forcing King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to move to Paris.

Versailles

Under the Constitution of 1791, France established a _________ monarchy where lawmaking authority belonged to the elected assembly, though the King retained veto power.

Constitutional

In late 1792, incriminating correspondence revealed that King Louis XVI was secretly conspiring with _____________ to restore his absolute power.

Foreign powers

Radical republican leader __________ led the Reign of Terror, arguing that terror was necessary to protect the Republic and build a "Republic of Virtue".

Robespierre

The policy of __________________  sought to eliminate Catholic influence by replacing the traditional Christian calendar with a revolutionary calendar designating 1792 as Year One.

de-Christianization

Following the execution of Robespierre in July 1794, governance was assumed by a five-man executive council called the __________ under the Constitution of 1795.

Directory

In November 1799, military hero __________ overthrew the corrupt Directory in a coup d'état.

Napoleon

Although Napoleon ruled as a dictator and Emperor, he preserved key legal gains of the Revolution—including male legal equality and meritocracy—through his legal system known as the ______________.

Napoleonic Code.

Identify ONE specific grievance expressed by American colonists between 1765 and 1774, and identify who colonists held responsible during this early phase.

Taxation without representation. Colonists held the British parliament responsible during this early phase.

Explain how the target of colonial blame shifted by 1776, and describe how this shift altered the ultimate political goal of the colonists.

From the British parliament to King George lll. From trying to fix a bad relationship to getting a total divorce.

Describe ONE reform enacted during the Moderate Stage (1789–1791) of the French Revolution intended to limit absolute royal power or eliminate feudal privileges.

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

Explain ONE way the Radical Stage (1792–1794) under Robespierre departed from the moderate ideals of individual rights and human liberties.

Suspension of due process and freedom of speech via the Law of Suspects and the Law of 22 Prairial.

What major social changes were enacted by the Committee of Public Safety during the Republic of Virtue?

Religion: de-christianization, Time: new republic calendar, Society: mandatory public education, and Economy: strict price limits

Major actions take by the National Convention

abolished the monarchy, established French Republic, executed King Louis the 16th, and formed security.

How were women affected by the changes during this radical time period?

The woman formed the society and petitioned for food. Unfortunately, male leaders banned all women’s clubs.

Why did the Committee of Public Safety need to raise a massive army?

Soldiers mobilized by September, 1794 to fight invading European forces. The army had over 1 million people.

What event officially ended the Reign of Terror?

Robespierre

Constitutional monarchy, king shared power with assembly, broad male voting rights.

Constitution of 1791

Republic without a monarch, five-man executive directory, voting restricted to property.

Constitution of 1795

Describe how the directory lost power.

weak, corrupt, and unable to solve economic crisis.

who seized power in a coup d'état in 1799?

Napoleon Bonaparte