How Did Cesare Beccaria Contribute To The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a period before Napoleon’s empire where because of the unrest in the general public many thinkers challenged authority, superstitions, and other powerful entities through different ideologies, while also emphasizing and empowering reason, along with science and individual rights. These ideals sparked a new age of independent thinking, along with a new more pessimistic perception of the system of government called the old regime, where people were separated into 3 groups where the third group was put in great debt because of high taxes, which was caused by the government's spending problem. These all culminated with the tennis court oath, which was an event where the 3rd estate was kicked out from voting on how to deal
In 1773 after the execution of Louis XVI, there was civil and political unrest with supporters of the 2 styles of government clashing, to try and combat this the republic set up a revolutionary tribute to try all crimes, the revolutionary tribute set up the committee of public safety whose main purpose was to find and try enemies of the country. To find these enemies, the committee of public safety set up a shady network, that tried to wipe all evidence of the past government and labeled anyone as a potential suspect, this ended with the committee sentencing thousands to death, and the era being dubbed the “Reign of Terror” (3). The head of the Committee on Public Safety was Maximilian Robespierre, he used different tactics like speeches to convince the public that his actions were not only justified but also necessary while killing anyone who fought back from these decisions and anyone who got in his way(9). In 1794 after being turned on by his fellow committee members who were in fear for their lives, Maximilian was found in his hotel room with major injuries, he was then arrested, treated for his injuries, and then executed for his actions with his death marking the end of the “Reign of Terror”(12). The reign of terror, overall, was a time of great depression and unrest with anyone being killed for anything, with no trial or evidence, with not only physical but also mental torture being used on the victims. These actions displayed in the “Reign of Terror” entirely go against what Cesare Beccaria advocated for, with the laws being ignored simultaneously ignoring people's independent rights through Max’s ultimate control over