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| 119128238 | Jacques-Louis David | He painted the "Tennis Court Oath" in 1791 that depicts when the National Assembly was formed and the historical significance of that moment. | |
| 119128239 | The Tennis Court Oath | When the National Assembly stormed out of the Estates-General meeting and pledge not to adjourn until a constitution for France had been written. | |
| 119128240 | National Assembly | The political body created on June 17, 1789, by the Third Estate. It claimed to be the true representative of French citizens compared to an absolute monarchy. | |
| 119128241 | Louis XV | Louis XVI's predecessor that left France deeply in debt due to the Seven Years' War. He was known for saying, "Apres moi, la delude" (after me comes the flood). | |
| 119128242 | Apres moi, la deluge. | "After me comes the flood." Said by Louis XV, meaning that the flood of problems he created would not fully come to realization until after he had died and a new king came to power. | |
| 119128243 | Louis XVI | Absolute monarch of France from 1774-1791. He was overthrown by the people of France who were inspired by the Enlightenment. He was executed on January 21, 1793 for treason against the French citizens. | |
| 119128244 | Old Regime | The name of the political system that existed in France before the French Revolution...an absolute monarchy. | |
| 119128245 | Estates-General | A meeting the king could hold where each of the three estates got one vote. This was despite the fact that the 3rd estate had more than 600 representatives. | |
| 119128246 | First Estate | The clergy. | |
| 119128247 | Second Estate | The nobility | |
| 119128248 | Third Estate | Bourgeoisie (those who were educated and enlightened), as well as the commoners/peasants. | |
| 119128249 | Versailles | The extravagant palace that was built by Louis XIV to reflect the power of the absolute monarch and the glory of France. | |
| 119128250 | Cahiers de doleances | The list of grievances that the National Assembly presented to the king, detailing how the people of France were being oppressed/exploited. | |
| 119128251 | Abbe Emmanual Joseph Sieyes | He wrote, "What is the Third Estate?," a political pamphlet that criticized noble and clerical privileges. He supported the formation of a national assembly and helped write the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in 1791. | |
| 119128252 | "What is the Third Estate?" | Political pamphlet written by Abbe Emmanual Joseph Sieyes. It criticized the privileges that the nobility and clergy received. The pamphlet inspired the people of France to revolt against the absolute monarch, much in the same way as Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" did for the American Revolution. | |
| 119128253 | Bastille | A royal armory that served as a prison to a handful of debtors. The citizens of Paris stormed it, expressing how the people of France had taken politics into their own hands. They considered it their right to seize arms in order to protect their interests. The revolutionary militia would come to be known as the "National Guard." | |
| 119128254 | Marquis de Lafayette | He was a nobleman who assisted in the American Revolution. He helped to organize the National Guard, the militia what would fight against the king's army. | |
| 119128255 | National Guard | Revolutionary militia of France. It was organized by Marquis de Lafayette and it fought against the king's army. | |
| 119128256 | Great Fear | When peasants banded together to storm their noble's home to destroy legal documents about financial payments/debts. They were overthrowing aristocratic privileges. | |
| 119128257 | Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen | A document like the Declaration of Independence that drew on Enlightenment ideals. It was the predecessor of the French Constitution of 1791. It declared that all men in France were equal and the clergy and nobility no longer had privileges. | |
| 119128258 | Marquis de Condorcet | He criticized the revolutionaries for overlooking the political rights of women. He believed women should be treated as equals and have the right to an education. | |
| 119128259 | Legislative Assembly | The Constitution of 1791 gave the French people the right to form a legislative assembly. It was ineffective because of political differences between the Jacobins and the Girondins. | |
| 119128260 | departments | 83 regions that were created by the National Assembly to break up the old provinces of France. Their boundaries served two purposes: 1. Boundaries were chosen to deliberately break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation. 2. Boundaries were set so that any settlement in the country was within a day's ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the entire national territory under close control. | |
| 119128261 | Pope Pius VI | At the outbreak of the French Revolution, Pius VI witnessed the suppression of the old Gallican Church (the Catholic Church in France), the confiscation of pontifical and ecclesiastical possessions in France, and an effigy (political doll) of himself burnt by the Parisians at the Palais Royal. | |
| 119128262 | Marie Antoinette | Wife to King Louis XVI. She was hated by the commoners of France for her extravagant lifestyle and to her indifference to the people's suffering. She was executed on October 16, 1793. | |
| 119128263 | Counterrevolutionaries | People who supported the monarchy and the Old Regime and not the revolution. | |
| 119128264 | Sans-culottes | French term meaning "without knee-breeches." It was a term created to describe the poorer members of the Third Estate because they usually wore pantaloons (full-length trousers) instead of the fashionable knee-length culotte. Symbolized the difference between the working class laborers and the bourgeoisie and nobles who wore culottes. | |
| 119128265 | Jacobins | Political group that existed after the king was overthrown. They wanted radical changes in France based on Enlightenment ideals. Left on the political spectrum. | |
| 119128266 | Girondins | Political group that wanted a monarchy (a constitutional one). The group was more conservative and did not want as many changes. It was right on the political spectrum. | |
| 119128267 | National Convention | The political system in France from September 20, 1792 until October 26, 1795. It was made up of the Constitutional Assembly and the Legislative Assembly. | |
| 119128268 | Maximilien Robespierre | Leader of the Jacobin party who formed the Committee of Public Safety to hunt out counterrevolutionaries. He then became the leader of the Reign of Terror. He wanted extreme and radical changes in France. | |
| 119128269 | Jaques Danton | He was a leading member of the Jacobin Party and was the first president of the Committee of Public Safety. As time went on and the revolutionary politicians went against everything they fought for and became more corrupt. Danton was accused of being a counterrevolutionary and was executed in April 5, 1794. | |
| 119128270 | Committee of Public Safety | Committee formed by the Jacobins to hunt out counterrevolutionaries. | |
| 119128271 | Reign of Terror | Time period in France when thousands of people were executed after being accused of being counterrevolutionaries. It was a time that did not reflect the ideals of the Enlightenment that the revolution had fought for. | |
| 119128272 | Guillotine | Humane execution device inspired by the Enlightenment that would swiftly kill the prisoner rather than expose him to a great deal of torture and suffering. | |
| 119128273 | Jean-Paul Marat | A leading member of the Jacobin party who was killed by Girondin, Charlotte Corday. | |
| 119128274 | Charlotte Corday | Supporter of the Girondin party, she murdered Jean-Paul Marat while he was bathing. | |
| 119128275 | Thermidorian Reaction | Revolt beginning in July 1794 against the radicalism of the French Revolution, leading to the downfall and execution of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror. It was when the people felt the Committee of Public Safety had gone too far and was no longer looking out for the needs of French citizens. | |
| 119128276 | Conscription | Another word for the draft. | |
| 119128277 | Napoleon Bonaparte | Military leader during the revolution who came to power after the Directory. He would become dictator of France. | |
| 119128278 | Directory | A parliament-like body effectively governed France and kept it from being overthrown by royalist resurgence or popular insurrection. It only lasted from 1795 to 1799. | |
| 119128279 | Continental system | The economic boycott of England by Napoleon during the wars beginning in 1803. Napoleon the blockade to protect French manufacturers in all continental European markets. | |
| 119128280 | Napoleonic Code | The codification of laws for the people of France now that the king was gone and the revolution was over. It facilitated trade and the development of commerce by protecting property rights and equality before the law. | |
| 119128281 | Waterloo | When Napoleon came out of exile and took on the European powers to regain leadership of France. He was defeated and imprisoned. |
