Napoleon Bonaparte was in a bad
situation. He was on the island of
Elba, population 12,000, far from France, where he was the Emperor. Or, at
least used to be. You may be wondering what he was doing miles from his
country.
After his trek through Russia,
Napoleon barely escaped from the freezing wilderness. His enemies were waiting.
Napoleon had a lot of enemies. Great Britain, Austria, and Prussia were among
them. Napoleon attempted to battle, but after escaping from Russia, he had few
troops left. He was forced to surrender. They wrote up the Treaty of
Fontainebleau, and exiled him to Elba. So what was Napoleon going to do about
it?
Elba Island Today
Meanwhile, back in Austria, the
Congress of Vienna with representatives from many European countries was getting
together. Their purpose was simple. They were dividing up Europe. Now that
Napoleon was gone, there was a lot of unclaimed land that previously belonged
to France. However, before they could make any major decisions, there was
shocking news. Napoleon had escaped from Elba, and was heading towards France.
Napoleon was doing it. If he could
just make it back to France, he could regain control, regroup his armies, and
conquer more of Europe. That’s not exactly how it turned out, though. His
enemies were not stupid, and they sent out soldiers to intercept him. When the
soldiers met up with him, Napoleon stepped of his horse and told the soldiers
to shoot him if they wished. Instead, the soldiers said, “Vive L’Empereur” and
brought Napoleon to Paris. Luck was on Napoleon’s side that day. However, 100
days later, he would not be so lucky.
Napoleon ruled France for 100 days.
Those 100 days were not the easiest of his life. Both British and Prussian
armies were approaching. Napoleon had 200,000 men. The final battle was upon
him.
On Sunday, June 18, 1815, the
Battle of Waterloo was fought. After a great deal of fighting, the Prussian
army arrived. Napoleon was forces to attack with his strongest force: the
Imperial Guard. The guard was destroyed by the opposing armies. Those who did
not die retreated or surrendered. After that, the French army disintegrated,
and Napoleon surrendered.
Napoleon's Empire (Purple)
The title of this story is Exiled – Twice, so you guessed it;
Napoleon was exiled again. The British exiled him to the small Island of St.
Helena. This time, he did not attempt escape. He died in 1821.
This is the story of Napoleon, the Emperor who ruled
France, claimed land, fought battles, and, of course, was exiled twice.
Do you ever think about what’s behind a decision? So many decisions that were made hundreds of years are very crucial today. And if you think about it everything we do today is crucial for tomorrow or for another hundred years from now. Decisions affect our world in positive and negative ways for example, Adolf Hitler; he made the decision to kill approximately six million Jews. Or even 9/11 that dark day in New York City, where 2,819 lost their lives and 3, 051 children lost a parent. One person’s decision can ruin thousands of people’s lives. Just one thought, turned into an action, can affect millions of lives of lives for the better or for the worse. If King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain hadn’t funded Christopher Columbus then we may not have 313,008,649 here in the US. Our ancestors made the decisions to create the USA. Our fathers wrote the laws to enable us to make change, and make decisions. And the hero’s of the past play a great role today such as. Harriet Tubman with her underground railroad saved many. How did she decide to step up and take leadership over the racial discrimination? So many heroes’ today did amazing things but how did they decide to do them. Abraham Lincoln, or Nelson Mandela who changed millions of lives. Susan G. Komen who is a recent hero right now her foundation is trying to help millions of women. Many use decisions for the better or for the worse, decisions matter, and actions matter. We can start revolutions. We have started revolutions. One man’s decision leads us to our freedom, decisions and ideas can catch like fire and spread. We should be lucky that we have the power to make our own decisions. In the Constitution it says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”In the Declaration of Independence it states “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed” this says we have the power to change the laws if Congress is being abusive. We have that decision. We have these documents to prove our liberty; to prove our freedom of speech, to prove that we can make our own decisions. So, why don’t we start?
One thought can change the world, one action can change the world, and one decision can change the world.
As much as we would all like to deny it, we all procrastinate, especially with long term projects. I have run into this problem many times with this project. It’s not due for another month, so why should I waste time when my favorite television show is on? In the back of my mind, I always know the answer. If I don’t do it today, I’ll have to do it tomorrow. I have had to force myself to do lots of things in this project. How else am I going to get 43 assignments done? When I procrastinate, I feel so guilty. I’ll be lying in bed at night, and I can’t sleep. I’ll think over my day, and I’ll realize that I didn’t do anything for the Revolutions project. This means that I have to do twice the work tomorrow, and I actually consider getting out of bed at 11:00 at night to margin note Chapter 7 in our textbook, but I always decide to get some sleep instead. The only way to avoid this terrible feeling is to actually do the work.
I chose to do this project in a specific order. The first thing that I did was find some friends to work with on two of the main projects. We picked the topic of the Underground Railroad, and every work period we had, we worked on that. At home, I worked on all the little things first, like the stained glass coloring, or passing my geography tests on Sheppard Software. This way, I get all the easy assignments out of the way, and then I can just focus on the bigger ones without worrying about the smaller things. Other people I know are doing the big things first to get them out of the way, and I think both strategies have benefits and faults. With my strategy, I have to make sure that I leave enough time to do the big things and put lots of effort into them. People who choose the other strategy have to make sure that they don’t forget about the little things. Whatever strategy a person chooses to use, there will always be some pros and cons.
"Procrastination manifests itself within every aspect of your life." -excerpt from David McRaney’s blog
I have used some different strategies to help me with this project. I planned out all the assignments and when I wanted to be done with them. I broke some of the bigger projects into chunks. For the Literature Packet, I decided when I wanted to be done with each individual story, so it was easier not to procrastinate and then do them all in one night. I split the reading into groups of 5 pages. I also chose to plan out what I wanted to have done by each of the Mondays, not each individual day. This way, if I have a lot of other homework in other subjects on one night, I can do that first and not get off track if I don’t get everything I wanted to done. It also gives me the weekends to catch up if I was busy during the week. I have also found that it helps if I do one thing a night, even if it is something small like one story in the Literature Packet. This way, the big project doesn’t feel so big. I’ll always want to procrastinate. I can’t change that, but I can change how I deal with it.
John Locke not only set up the Bill of Rights and the Constition, but he shaped the making of America. Of course, he didn’t “make” America with his own hands, and he didn’t discover it, but he did lay down the foundation for us to build on. If John Locke’s theory about knowledge and government was never put to use, America would never be what it is today.
John Locke’s theory was that people was born as a “blank slate.” People are born without knowing anything, and they learn as they grow. Locke believed that there was no human nature, and that everybody chose what they learned, and what they didn’t learn, by experiencing different things. Locke believed that people divided knowledge into two groups: simple, and complex. Simple knowledge is what we learn directly from the world, and cannot be made simpler (ex. The fruit is called “apple.”). Complex knowledge is a compound of simple knowledge. We take the facts, and turn them into an opinion, or idea (ex. We bite into an apple. The apple has a brown spot. It tastes kind of funny. You see a worm.) Unlike Thomas Hobbes, he thought that people should be reasonable, people are born with rights that other people cannot take away from them, and that people should be able to choose their government. He also thought that people should be able to rebel against the government. Hobbes thought that people should be selfish, be self-interest, and have one person with all power. He thought that the person in charge has rights, and he can tell people what to do, and people must do it. Also, Hobbes thought that if the governor wanted someone dead for no reason, the governor gets his wish granted. Our Founding Fathers well liked Locke’s theory.Thomas Jefferson read John Locke, agreed with many of his ideas, and felt so strongly that he included them in the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson stated that the government only has power if the people give it to them. If the government takes away a person’s natural rights (life, liberty, the right to own land), the person has the power to change the government. Not only was John Locke a philosopher, but he also invented what is now called America. If it weren’t for him, we would not have what is today known as the Bill of Rights. We would not have freedom or rights to select our government. Neither would we have the rights to life, liberty, and to own land.
For my blog, I decided to write about what I think about long term projects. I think that most people dread long term projects, and I know that I am one of of those people. Long term projects are difficult for me because it requires time management skills; something that I have a trouble with. I believe that is due to the fact that I am a procrastinator. I plan to keep myself on track by creating a timeline for myself. I have also printed out calendars for February and March so that I can have certain part of the project done by the due dates that I have set for myself.
For the Revolutions! project I decided to work alone. I usually like to work with a partner because with another person they can give you opinions which will help you make your project even better. Having a partner also helps because you don't have to do everything by yourself and its a lot of weight of your shoulder. However, I decide to challenge myself and do this project by alone. I hope that at the end of this project, I will have gained time management skills so that in the future, these long-term assignments won't be as difficult as this one.
If you struggle with long-term projects like me, start out with little steps. At the beginning of this project I was terrified. But now, I am more then half way done with this project because I didn't put it off until the last minute. I set clear dates and that helped me stay on track. The worst thing you can do is think that you have a lot of time just because your work isn't due the next day.
Long-term projects are always something that almost every kid dreads. I know that for a fact because I am one of those kids who absolutely hate these kinds of projects. Some kids might think, I have so much time to do this project, and then they just put it off, and then suddenly they find out that it is almost over and they haven’t done anything! Then there are those kids who say that they are just going to jump right into the project, but they never do. They might just end up putting off the project too. At some point in every long-term project, everyone will be a procrastinator. The point of this blog post is to tell you why kids procrastinate, the different ways that they do procrastinate, and a way to make long-term projects easier for students, all from the perspective of a kid.
To start off I would like to say that I am the kind of kid who likes to say they are going to start the project right away and then they don’t do anything. During long-term projects most kids procrastinate because they obviously don’t want to do it, but also because they probably think that they have plenty of time. The thing is the time passes very quickly during these projects, and before they know it the project will be almost over and everything is still in front of them. And of course there is the type of kid who says they have a lot of time, but of course then they end up not doing anything either. Something I have found so far during this project is that I am often distracted by the Internet, and to make this stop happening I would leave my computer in a different room and only get it when I really needed it. Another thing that sometimes slows kids projects down is that they might have a lot of other homework or afterschool activities so they actually can’t work on their projects. So that’s when the problem of finding time comes in.
One way to make kids have an easier time staying on track and having a lot of time during a long-term project is to plan it out in an agenda. They should make due dates for themselves so they can be sure to get things done on time. I guess you could say it’s kind of like being your own teacher. When I first I started writing everything I wanted to get done in my agenda, I wasn’t able to do it all because I gave myself to much work. From then on I had to limit myself. I also learned that I forgot to include the after school activities and other things I did on weekends in my agenda, so that also ended up slowing down my work as well because I wasn't able t do those things when I had planned to. When a student plans out what their own homework is, they should make sure to check what other activities they have going on so those other events don’t interfere with the project.
Every night when I do my homework, I look in my planner and see what my teachers assigned me that day. When I’m finished with my required tasks, I get to watch TV. I feel satisfied with the work I’ve done, and I am free of worry. With this Revolutions project, we have a total of 43 assignments, and we are to do them when we want to; Paul does not assign certain homework every night. This is somewhat of a challenge for me, because lately I’ve been telling myself that I can just do it later. I am very fearful for my upcoming conference, for I am worried I won’t have enough assignments completed. I am going to start not putting it off, and actually progress quickly through this project. I don’t like the feeling of knowing that there are so many things I could be doing for this project, when instead I’m relaxing and watching TV, or going on my Facebook and Twitter. I also hate knowing that other people are so much further ahead then I am, because I don’t like falling behind, and I rarely do.
The Lit. Packet is especially frightening for me, because there are so many stories and questions, and I’m procrastinating and not even starting a story because they are so long. I also found the do make and teach a class hard to begin as well, but I found a topic, and now I am beginning to create a magnificent project with my partner Ruby. We’re also supposed to read chapter seven of our world cultures text book, but everyone I ask says it’s really hard, so I keep putting it off.
Writing this blog has helped me realize what exactly I’m doing. Now I have a sense of what I need to do, and that I should be getting as much work as possible done. As we speak, I am going to begin the Lit. Packet, and conquer my procrastination issues. I would really like to succeed in this project, and I believe that I can, and will. Even though this project is scaring me, I am glad that we are doing it, because I know I will learn a lot about assigning tasks for myself, and not procrastinating.
It was hard at first to decide on a topic; there were so many options to choose from. But in the end I chose to do the battle of Waterloo. For my do/make I decided to make a model of the Battle of Waterloo putting Risk (the board game) soldiers, using a picture with arrows and boxes for where the soldiers moved. For my teach a class I have decided to use a short clip from the film Waterloo which I found on YouTube for an introduction, then I would pass around my model of the battle that I did for my do/make, then I would use a more informative clip for some information and facts for the class then I would use poll everywhere.com to asses what the class had learned. My dad, while I’ve been doing projects, has been like a research partner because he is on sabbatical and has a lot of spare time, so he has found a great interest in this project on Waterloo. Here is a link he found which was really helpful.
The hardest part of my do/make is the fact that the only cheap Risk sets are now using arrows instead of actual figurines for the pieces, so I have to borrow somebody’s set and use the pieces, the board will be easy to find but the most delicate part is when I have to draw the arrows for where the troops moved, I get the general idea but the way that each troop moved was really different and a lot harder. All and all I think this project has been one of the more fun projects in my middle school years. Napoleon was a military genius he knew every strategy and every advantage he could get, but in Russia I think he lost his senses,, he sent a large army into frigid Russia in the middle of winter, and of course, his men got hypothermia and starved. The duke of wellington was a great ruler too, but he never lost his senses during a battle he too knew when to retreat, and when to attack. Wellington wasn’t troubled by his age as much as napoleon was, it is said in diaries written by his officers he would shed very real tears over casualty reports. He urged his men on in the heat of a battle. Occasionally charging alongside his heavy cavalry during battles. One of the most interesting pieces of information I learned about the battle of Waterloo was that The Duke of Wellington attended a ball at the nearby manor to show the people that they were in no real danger, and to keep them calm however napoleon had heard the news and had started marching before Wellington had heard the news napoleon had gained a day’s march on Wellington.
When I first got the green sheet , an agenda of everything I must do for the project, it was very intimidating, but as I started doing the projects I realized it wouldn’t be half bad. I have about 23 projects done and I’m almost done with my next project inside of this project, Revolutions. This means I’m about halfway done.
School, track, basketball, tutoring, free time, and homework. How do I fit all of these into one month or week or even days? This blog is about how I try to manage all of my hobbies and activities and not be to stressed. Sometimes I think that adults and others think that trying to do all the things I love and to fit school and homework in is very easy. But I know from experience it isn't. To me, sports is just as important as school. I learn a lot from sports that I don't get to learn in school such as, leadership, teamwork, reaction speed, and awareness. So in my perspective doing sports and stuff is just as important as school.
I try to manage school and sports by doing my school work on the way to and from sports but this is very difficult because before sports events I am distracted because I am nervous for the game or practice and stuff. after the sporting event I am tired and worn out. sometimes I get frustrated because we have like seven hours of school and they still expect us to do a ton of homework. I think that schools should help student athletes have a lesser work load in order to help them manage things they like and things that are necessary like school.
When I try to manage sports and school at the same time I feel like I want to try and be independent. But I find that I cannot be 100% independent. I need the help of adults to keep me on track and to stay focused.
Working with a partner can be difficult and easy at the same time. During the Revolutions project, some times it is great to work with someone and sometimes it isn’t. A partner can help divide work for you or you could end up doing all the work and your partner does nothing. Or they could slow you down - if you work with a great friend, you might just end up not doing any work at all.
Partners can take a lot of weight off of your back. They can do equal share of the work. When you work alone, you have all this work to do, but if you work with someone else they can help you get it all done. If you miss something they can help you fix it, and you always have another opinion to make your work even better.
Sometimes, when you work with a partner you can end up doing all the work, and your partner doing nothing. Working with a partner can be hard as well as easy, it may be just like working alone. Your partner might be off doing nothing or just not helping, and no matter how many times you ask for them to help you, they won’t. They either do all the work, or do none of it. If you like doing all the work, then working with a partner who does nothing can be helpful, but in the end when they get credit for the project as well as you, it doesn’t feel so great. If you don’t like doing any work, then having a partner who will do everything can be very helpful, but you probably won’t get much satisfaction out of it. It just all depends on what kind of a person you are.
Working with your friends may seem fun at first, but when the project is due, you might be screwed. Friends tend to be our first choice as a partner, and we will always try to work with them, but they may not be the best choice for you. Some people work really well with their friends and can get a lot done, but others have a hard time with it. They will end up just talking and goofing around the whole time; they may not even have a project by the time the due date rolls around. Your friends may be the ones you are closest to, but they may not be the ones you will work best with.
People say teaching is the dream job, and for them it may be, but I can tell you it’s a lot harder than planning, and giving out homework. Those two things are an important part of teaching, the homework may not be fun, and may be time consuming, but it is practice, or in some cases a challenge for what you have learned. This task is also quite difficult because of the many guidelines that are to be followed in order to complete the task properly. Now, planning is a huge part of teaching, and for me one of the most fun parts of the process. I love planning because during this part of the project I didn't really do anything, but think, and share creative ideas with the person I’m teaching with. Although, the next part is not so simple, making a proposal. When I made the proposal I found it difficult because I had to take all the great ideas that Maria, the person I’m teaching with, andmyself came up with. This for me was difficult, because it brought the project from scratch paper and ideas to written paragraphs, and time limits. I found myself having to come up with specific times, and the order that we were going to present in. It was just like Maria and I talked about, but it brought a reality to me, and I finally started to understand exactly what I was doing. At the current moment I am at the point where I am making things necessary for my presentation, and I never thought about how much time this would take. I expected about two days, it’s been about a week, and some things are still not fully completed. Such as the do/make, which will be presented as a component of my lesson, has taken much more time than I thought would be necessary for the task. Another upcoming problem is setting a date to teach the class. Once this decision is made it is pretty much set in stone, and this task difficult because if something happens, and I’m not fully prepared to present I can’t delay the date, I can only work faster, or present without all the components to my original presentation. Finally, I come to the hardest component, in my perspective, making sure this presentation was enjoyable, and that the class learned something. All along this idea sits in the back of your head, you don’t want your presentation to be boring, but the class needs to learn something, or you have not completed the task you set out to complete. In my presentation I am creating a game, and would like to hand out prizes, but I can’t hand out food, and the recommendation is to hand out shiny stickers. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, because I want the class to play the game, not just go along so they can get what ever I decide to give as a prize. Teaching is a challenge, with many difficulties of which teachers have to overcome.
As many
people in the world know, the United States was not always its own country. The
Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle of the United States Revolutionary
War.
The United
States Revolutionary War started when the British military received word that
the colonists were collecting weapons in Concord to use against Britain. They
were gathering weapons because the crown was taxing them, going against the
British law of “no taxation without representation.” The colonists had no
representation in the British government, therefore, by British law; it was
illegal for the colonists to be taxed. The Parliament insisted that they had
the right to tax colonists because their land was not part of the British
mainland.
General
Thomas Gage sent troops to the colonies to confiscate the weapons. The colonist
fired at the troops, starting the Revolutionary War. The first battle was
called the battle of Lexington and Concord.
The battle
that I am focusing on is the last major battle of the war, the battle of
Yorktown. Prior to the battle of Yorktown, 5,550 French soldiers landed in
Rhode Island to assist the Patriots in recapturing New York City, which was
under British occupation. The fate of the United States depended on the
soldiers arriving. If the French soldiers had been unable to arrive, for
reasons such as weather, then the Patriots may have lost the Revolutionary War,
and there would be no US.
"Siege of Yorktown." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 06 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown>.
The French
commander, Comte de Rochambeau, convinced George Washington that an attack on
New York City would be a bad idea, and recommended that they attack the 9,000
men army of Lord Cornwallis. This army was stationed in Yorktown, Virginia.
Rochambeau recommended that attack because he had Comte de Grasse’s navy fleet
in Yorktown, which could assist in the attack.
De Grasse
defeated a British fleet in Yorktown, which blocked all sea escape for
Cornwallis. Washington dispatched French General Lafayette to hold Cornwallis
in Yorktown. Here again we can see that the fate of the United States really
rested on a few very important things that happened in the battle. If Lafayette
had been unable to hold Cornwallis in Yorktown, Cornwallis would have met up
with more soldiers and attacked the American forces again. The American forces
had been prepared for government, and were now ready to make the final attack.
On October 14, 1781, Washington sent two columns to attack the remaining outer
British forces. On October 17, Cornwallis asked for capitulation terms. The
surrender ceremony was held on the 19th. Cornwallis claimed to be
ill and was not present. The United States began bargaining with Britain,
resulting in the Treaty of Paris. The Treaty was signed in 1783.
Image Sources
"American Revolution : The
Battle of Yorktown." British Battles - Analysing and Documenting
British Battles from the Previous Centuries. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.britishbattles.com/battle-yorktown.htm>.
"Battle Pics." Mercer
Island School District. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
<http://blogs.misd.k12.wa.us/rcimprich/2011/04/26/the-battle-of-yorktown-diary-entry-5-due-427/>.
"Siege of Yorktown." Wikipedia,
the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 06 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown>.
When Paul, our 7th grade history teacher, handed out the assignment sheet titled “Revolutions”, I couldn’t help but smirk in amusement. Compared to our last project that flaunted the intimidating title, “Feudal Asia Medieval Europe”, “Revolutions” seemed so… diminutive. At first glance, a confident, bordering on cocky, individual like myself would indubitably see the assignment as straightforward and painless. Write a paper on the Industrial Revolution; make a map of the battles of the American Revolutionary War. Sounds easy enough. How wrong was I? Three weeks into the project, I haven’t only ignored multiple elements of “Revolutions” (such as the LIT packet), but I have also allowed myself to procrastinate this blog post until the evening before the due date! Only making matters worse, Super Bowl XLVI is on tonight, and trust me, trying to write a blog post while simultaneously jumping up whenever Eli Manning throws an unbelievable pass is asking for a cracked laptop screen. Currently at halftime, with Madonna’s singing on mute, I prepare to get started on the bulk of my blog post, the French Revolution. I don’t have the time or patience to write a detailed account covering the entire French Revolution. I will, however, highlight the causes for the French revolution and subsequently travel through specific events of the French Revolution from the Storming of the Bastille up to the execution of France’s absolute monarch.
Being the first one in the entire 7th grade class to blog, I feel as if I have the duty to set the bar high for my classmates. So, here it is, the French Revolution:
As regalia rung throughout the city of Reims, Louis-Auguste, receiving the anointment of the Holy Ampoule, transformed into King Louis XVI, the absolute monarch of France. The gathered thousands, in a state of utter jubilation at the time, were oblivious of how soon and how much they would come to loathe their King.
French soldiers in the American Revolution
As June 11, 1775, the day of King Louis XVI’s flamboyant coronation, came to a close, the young adult, only twenty years of age, was well aware of the difficult task he had in front of him. France’s involvement in the Seven Years’ War had resulted in a financial crisis, and the French people were desperate to put an end to their economic slump. King Louis XVI wasn’t succeeding the throne a popular man. He had married the Austrian Marie-Antoinette, a very unpopular candidate for the Queen of France. To make matters worse for the King, just four years into his reign, Louis XVI made a critical decision that not only worsened France’s debt crisis, but further diminished his popularity. King Louis declared war against Great Britain in 1778, aiding the American Colonies that wished to gain independence from their mother country. It is still unclear why King Louis XVI chose to aid the Americans, a controversial move that he could’ve easily avoided. Perhaps, Benjamin Franklin, a gifted diplomat, persuaded the young King, or more likely, Louis seized the opportunity to avenge the Frenchmen that fell to British arms in the Seven Years’ War. Ignoring the motives for King Louis’ decision, France’s involvement in the American War for Independence ultimately worsened the debt crisis. Even worse, in perspective of those benefiting from the monarch system, the successful American Revolution further augmented aspirations for reformation in France.
Beginning in 1789, France would enter a ten-year battle against an enemy that surpassed all predecessors in strength and influence: Its own people. In a torrent of dominoing events, French society would be uprooted in a matter of three years, and the feudal beliefs that controlled France for centuries would be substituted with Enlightenment principles, valuing natural rights and equality. Through the chaos, one man, utilizing his uncanny ability with words, would rally a kingdom to rebel against their monarchs. The same man, ironically dubbed “the incorruptible”, once obtaining power over France, would veer the progressive path of the revolution to fulfill his own radical interests. The bloody era known as the Reign of Terror, and the French Revolution as a whole, concluded with the death of its institutor, Maximilien Robes-Pierre.
Following the American Revolution, the French debt crisis continued to worsen. Finally, King Louis XVI, after years of criticism for his ignorance of his people’s oppression, publicly addressed the nation’s financial struggle by calling a meeting of the Estates-General. In the May of 1789, 1,201 delegates comprised of nobles, clergy, and the Third Estate discussed the nation’s matters, in hope of eventually creating a solution to the debt crisis. For a month, the talks were stagnant, so on the 17th of June, the Third Estate made a radical move in hope of proceeding negotiations.
Tennis Court Oath
The Third Estate, making up the majority of the Estates-General, declared themselves the National Assembly, a group representing “the people”. King Louis XVI, in a halfhearted attempt to prevent the National Assembly from gathering, hastily closed the Salle des États, the meeting room of the National Assembly. This had no effect whatsoever on the persistent members of the National Assembly, and after moving their meeting to an indoor tennis court, swore the Tennis Court Oath, proclaiming that they wouldn’t stop meeting until France had a constitution. The Third Estate invited the other two estates to join them, and the majority of clergy representatives and a good fraction of the nobility joined the National Assembly. The royal court had no choice but to succumb to the rising political power. After receiving formidable recognition from King Louis, the National Assembly renamed themselves the National Constituent Assembly, stressing evermore their desire for a constitution. King Louis found himself in the worst possible position; he was the blame of the nations problems, and the National Constituent Assembly was the solution.
The Storming of the Bastille
Throughout the summoned meeting of the Estates-General and the ultimate establishment of the National Constituent Assembly, the common people of Paris were causing chaos in the already suffering city. Paris had transformed from a stronghold city into the most rebellious city in France. Riots erupted in Paris, and looting became an acceptable mean of acquiring food. In hope of settling the bedlam in Paris, King Louis XVI issued an order, sending a large party of soldiers to the capital city. The rumor reached Paris on July 14, 1789. As a sign of complete rebellion, the people of Paris took up arms and stormed the Bastille fortress. The rebels, predominately composed of hefty women from the fish marketplace, mutilated the guards on duty. The Bastille held only seven prisoners, but the seemingly impregnable fortress symbolizing the power of France’s aristocracy, made it a target for the insurgents. King Louis XVI took a great scare from the act of violence, and he appointed Marquis de la Fayette to take charge of the National Guard occupying Paris. Spontaneous acts of violence enveloped France, and as July drew to an end, local militias scattered France’s countryside. France was on the verge of complete governmental collapse.
On August 4, 1789, the National Constituent Assembly, now holding true political authority, eradicated feudalism. Formally called the August Decrees, the nobles and clergy lost their privileges in a swift decision by the Assembly. Just twenty-two days later, the National Constituent Assembly released the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Assembly had fulfilled their original goal, but while being preoccupied with legislature matters, the National Constituent Assembly had yet to address France’s debt crisis. This failure to resolve the debt crisis most likely provoked the Women’s March on Versailles.
Women's March on Versailles
On October 5, 1789, thousands of women gathered in the marketplaces of Paris, sharing one concern. The women were responding to the years of suffering they had endured due to the failing economy, focusing mainly on the bread shortages that had transformed from an ominous possibility into an ever-present dilemma. The 7,000 women marched to Versailles, demanding that King Louis XVI and the entire royal court return to Paris where the officials would be able to address the financial crisis. After the mob stormed the palace, slaughtering multiple National Guardsmen, La Fayette persuaded the king to yield to the women’s demands. On October 6, 1789, King Louis and Marie-Antoinette were “escorted” back to Paris where they would virtually be held as prisoners in the Tuileries Palace until their executions by the guillotine.
Execution of Louis Capet (King Louis XVI)
September 21, 1792: The French monarchy is officially abolished, and France, for the first time in history, is a republic. King Louis XVI is stripped of all his titles and on the following day, is trialed. Maximilien Robes-Pierre contends, “Louis must die, so that the country may live”. On January 21, 1793, the once King of France, Louis XVI, is guillotined. Many rejoice with the death of the despised monarch, but just as in Louis’ coronation eighteen years earlier, the people are unaware that a far more devastating era will be ushered in with the death of their King.
If you wish to obtain a deeper understanding of the French Revolution and learn aout the devastating era following the death of King Louis XVI, check out the movie below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4BIlEK94fI
Thank you to "historyforall" for posting this in depth video on the French Revolution.
