The French Revolution By T. Harris

Objectives: Today, I will examine the causes of the French Revolution. My job is to compare and contrast the French Revolution to the American Revolution.

Thinking Map: Create a multi-flow map of the French Revolution. SUMMARY

Background A watershed event in modern European history, the French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Enlightenment Like the American Revolution before it, the French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideals, particularly the concepts of popular sovereignty and inalienable rights.

CAUSES: The first of the general causes was the social structure of the West. The increasingly numerous and prosperous elite of wealthy commoners— merchants, manufacturers, and professionals, often called the bourgeoisie— aspired to political power in those countries where it did not already possess it.

SUPPLY & DEMAND! POPULATION: From about 1730, higher standards of living had reduced the mortality rate among adults considerably. A larger population created a greater demand for food and consumer goods.

ECONOMY: The discovery of new gold mines in Brazil had led to a general rise in prices throughout the West from about 1730, indicating a prosperous economic situation.

PHILOSOPHICAL INFLUENCE: The philosophes—intellectuals whose writings inspired these arguments—were certainly influenced by 17th- century theorists such as Descartes, Spinoza and Locke, but they came to very different conclusions about political, social, and economic matters. A revolution seemed necessary to apply the ideas of Montesquieu, Voltaire, or Rousseau.

AMERICAN INFLUENCE: SINCE FRANCE HAD PARTICIPATED IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, IT WAS NEARLY DRIVEN TO BANKRUPTCY.

FRANCE HAD BECOME ONE OF THE MOST POPULATED COUNTRIES IN EUROPE. CROP FAILURES IN 1788 LASTLY, the French monarchy, no longer seen as divinely ordained, was unable to adapt to the political and societal pressures.

VIDEOS: CLICK HERE FRENCH REVOLUTION

ACTIVITY: CREATE A MULTI-FLOW MAP FROM YOUR NOTES ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. STUDY VOCABULARY!! WORK ON BLACK HISTORY PROJECT! EARLY TURN IN DATE IS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH

References: http://www.history.com/topics/french-revolution http://www.biography.com/people/napoleon-9420291 http://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution