Jacques-Louis David
Michael Edelman
HST 313
3/28/2005
Caricature Paper
Jacques-Louis David: Gouvernement Anglois (The English Government)
Introduction: As one can expect from the very nature of political and social revolutions, there were some very unhappy people during the French revolution. The question here is why the French citizens of this time so upset were and was their discontent so great that a revolution could be justified? Furthermore, who and what will be the ultimate vehicle to bring the necessary political, social and economic dreams to realization? The French Revolution in began in 1789 and ended in 1799, this was a time in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to make drastic changes (Doyle, 1999). The French Revolution ended an archaic social and political system established in France characterised by a feudal system under the control of a powerful absolute monarchy and the unquestioned power of the Catholic Church (Slevin, 2003). Those unhappy citizens who overthrew the absolute monarchy and the church belonged to a group known the bourgeoisie. This group was defined under the "Popular Movement" was constituted by angry peasants and wage-earners that had come under the influence of the rational ideas of the Enlightenment (Slevin, 2003). The bourgeoisie of this time was justifiably angered by many societal afflictions such as:
Unequal taxation between classes (some in the form of labor, known at that time as seigneurial taxes) (Doyle, 1999).
Famine
The irrational concepts of absolutism and powers of the church as a result of Enlightenment thought
The power of a privileged clergy and nobility As you can see there were many reasons for the discontent of the French bourgeois at this time, not only were they unfairly taxed, but they had very little voice in the government that was allowing many of its citizens to starve to death; something had to be done. The Birth of
HST 313
3/28/2005
Caricature Paper
Jacques-Louis David: Gouvernement Anglois (The English Government)
Introduction: As one can expect from the very nature of political and social revolutions, there were some very unhappy people during the French revolution. The question here is why the French citizens of this time so upset were and was their discontent so great that a revolution could be justified? Furthermore, who and what will be the ultimate vehicle to bring the necessary political, social and economic dreams to realization? The French Revolution in began in 1789 and ended in 1799, this was a time in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to make drastic changes (Doyle, 1999). The French Revolution ended an archaic social and political system established in France characterised by a feudal system under the control of a powerful absolute monarchy and the unquestioned power of the Catholic Church (Slevin, 2003). Those unhappy citizens who overthrew the absolute monarchy and the church belonged to a group known the bourgeoisie. This group was defined under the "Popular Movement" was constituted by angry peasants and wage-earners that had come under the influence of the rational ideas of the Enlightenment (Slevin, 2003). The bourgeoisie of this time was justifiably angered by many societal afflictions such as:
Unequal taxation between classes (some in the form of labor, known at that time as seigneurial taxes) (Doyle, 1999).
Famine
The irrational concepts of absolutism and powers of the church as a result of Enlightenment thought
The power of a privileged clergy and nobility As you can see there were many reasons for the discontent of the French bourgeois at this time, not only were they unfairly taxed, but they had very little voice in the government that was allowing many of its citizens to starve to death; something had to be done. The Birth of
Cited: Doyle, William. Origins of the French Revolution, 3rd ed. (1999). Johnson, D., Jacques-Louis David: Art in Metamorphosis (1993). Nast, Thomas. "King Andy". Harper 's Weekly, 3 Nov. 1866. p.696 Slevin, Carl "French Revolution" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics. Ed. Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan. Oxford University Press, 2003. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Syracuse Univeristy. 28 March 2005