Opening of the estates general : Opening of the estates general The Estates General was composed of 3 estates, and the First Estate was made up of the clergy, the Second Estate was made up of the nobility, and the Third Estate was made up of everyone else. All of the poor people and such belonged to the Third Estate, and they were basically represented by the bourgeoisie. Eventually, the king decided that he needed to call the Third Estate and strengthening of the third estate was the best way to go. The majority of Frenchwomen would have liked this opening of the estates general because now there was more power in the hands of the people rather than all in the hands of the monarch, and that could mean more rights for the women.
National assembly created : National assembly created The National Assembly was established on June 17. The National Assembly was created when a few of the members of the lower clergy responded to the Third Estate's invitation and joined them to become the National Assembly. The organization and voting of the new legislative body had to be decided before anything could be done in France, so the Third Estate invited the clergy and the nobles on June 1 to join them in creating this new legislative body. Only a few members of the lower clergy joined the third estate and became the legislative body known as the National Assembly from then on. Frenchwomen would view this similar to the calling of theEstates General because the power of the people is growing stronger and they have the ability to make the nation more of a republic.
Tennis Court Oath : Tennis Court Oath On June 20 after the National Assembly had been made and established, the members realized they had been accidentally locked out of their normal meeting place, so they moved to a nearby tennis court and took an oath to continue to sit there until they had made a constitution for France. This oath was called the Tennis Court Oath, and Louis XVI demanded that they stop what they were doing. Soon after that, the majority of the clergy and a large amount of the nobles joined the National Assembly, and finally on June 27, the king asked for the clergy and the nobles to meet with the National Assembly and that voting would occur by the number of people not by each group having one vote. The National Assembly renamed itself to the National Constituent Assembly. Frenchwomen would have viewed this as a good thing because a constitution is being written and the rights of people are being declared, and that is one step towards more rights for the Frenchwoman as well.
Fall of the Bastille : Fall of the Bastille Two new forces moved into this scene in France, and they were Louis XVI and the people of Paris. Louis XVI began to take the advice of Marie Antoinette, his brothers, and conservative nobles and decided to disrupt the actions of the national Constituent Assembly. He dismissed his financial minister, Necker, and he also refused to cooperate with the National Constituent Assembly in their attempts to establish a constitutional monarchy. The Parisians had remained politically active, and by June, the Parisians had began to organize a militia and collecting arms. They viewed the dismissing of Necker as an open insult towards the National Constituent Assembly and the city of Paris. On June 14, many people marched to Bastille searching for weapons for the militia, and Bastille was a huge fortress, and by accident, the troops in the Bastille fired upon the crowd killing almost a hundred people, and so the Parisians stormed the fortress and released prisoners and took control, but they found no weapons for the militia. These disruptions caused the king to have to listen to the complaints of the Parisians. Frenchwomen would have supported the downfall of the Bastille because they are taking down one of the king's fortresses that fired upon them. They are taking charge and the Parisians are building their own militia as their defense against the corruption of the government and forcing the king to comply.
Great Fear : Great Fear There were rumors spread around the French countryside that royal troops were going to be sent into the rural districts, and this created an increase of peasant rebellions. The Great Fear was what this was called, and during this time period the chateaux was burnt, records and documents were destroyed, and people refused to pay feudal dues. The peasants were determined to take hold of the food supplies and land that they considered theirs and had lost from the aristocratic resurgence. These peasant uprisings led to the occurrences on the night of August 4, 1789. The Frenchwomen, especially the poorer women would have opposed this decision of sending royal troops into rural districts because then their lives would be controlled even more by the king and they were already too poor to pay more taxes.
Night of August 4 : Night of August 4 On the night of August 4, 1789, the aristocrats in the National Constituent Assembly tried to stop the rebellions in the countryside. It was decided that several liberal nobles and clergyman were going to rise up in the assembly but they had to renounce their feudal rights, dues, and tithes and their hunting and fishing rights, judicial authority, and special tax exemptions. After the night of August 4, all French citizens were put under the same and equal laws, no tax exemptions and no special privileges were allowed in order to satisfy the rebellious peasants of the countryside. This action led the way to the reform and establishment of a better France. Frenchwomen would have clearly supported suchequality because it is one step towards equality for everyone, and the next step after equality for all men is equal rights for women aswell.
Declaration of the Rights of Men : Declaration of the Rights of Men In August of 1789, the National Constituent Assembly decided that before writing the constitution, they should put out a set of general laws, and they issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in which there was the influence of the Enlightenment. This Declaration of Rights of Man said that all men were born free and equal and had natural rights they were born with. Freedom of religion was allowed and everyone was taxed according to how much they could pay, so peasants were forced to pay less for taxes. One thing that this declaration didn't do is give rights to women, because they still believed at the time that men and women should be different and they weren't ready to give equal and equal rights to women. Women disliked the fact that they weren't mentioned or given rights. That is why women changed the Declaration by adding the word women in the right spots to assert their rights.
Parisian Women March to Versailles : Parisian Women March to Versailles Louis XVI stalled before accepting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the renunciation of feudalism where people now all pay equal taxes. So people became rebellious, especially since there were food shortages there. So on October 5, a large group of Parisian women armed themselves and marched to Versailles demanding more bread. The king was intimidated by these Parisian women, so he decided to accept the declarations of the Assembly. The next day he and his family talked to the crowd, but the Parisians were still suspicious of the monarch, so they wanted to keep a close eye on him by demanding that he return to Paris, and on October 6, 1789, the royal family was taken back to Paris to live in the Palace of the Tuileries. The Frenchwomen clearly regarded the king's actions as suspicious now, and that is why the Parisian women actually took charge and used force in order to make the king live in Paris to keep an eye on them.
Civil Constitution of the Clergy Adopted : Civil Constitution of the Clergy Adopted The confiscation of land of the clergy caused the reconstruction of the clergy. In July 1790, the National Constituent Assembly made the Civil Constitution of the Clergy that transformed the Roman Catholic Church in France into a branch of the secular state and reformed the church. This Constitution of the Clergy caused a lot of tension between French church and state. When opposed, the assembly said that all clergy have to take oaths to support the constitution, and so only 7 bishops and half of the clergy did that, and those that didn't were called refractory clergy and were removed from their jobs. In February 1791, the pope condemned the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and also the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, showing the Roman Catholic opposition towards liberalism and revolution. Women would have supported the Civil Constitution of the Clergy because the Church was finally being reformed in a rational way. They disliked how the Church condemned the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The Church was putting down liberalism and equal rights, and if the Church dislikes giving rights to men, they will also condemn giving equal rights to women.
Louis XVI and his Family attempt to flee/stopped at Varennes : Louis XVI and his Family attempt to flee/stopped at Varennes On June 20, 1791, Louis and his immediate family disguised themselves and fled Paris and only reached Varennes on their way to Metz. At Varennes, the king was discovered and forced back, and the assembly had to lie and say the king was kidnapped to save the constitutional monarchy. Frenchwomen, especially the Parisian Frenchwomen, were very displeased that the king tried to flee because it proved he had given up on the nation. He was disobeying what the Parisian women did by bringing him to the castle in Paris in order to keep an eye on him.
France Declares War on Austria : France Declares War on Austria France went to war with Austria in 1792 because it wanted to spread its revolutionary ideas and Austria and the other nations that were at war with France wanted to stop France. They knew French people had become dangerous with these ideas of revolution and such and they had to stop them. France felt it was defending all of the reform and things it had gained from the revolution in this war. Both the monarch and the sans-culottes supported this war during the midst of a domestic political revolution because they felt it would unite the nation in fighting a common enemy in order to preserve their gains from the revolution. Frenchwomen felt this was a good idea because France was fighting to keep their achievements from the revolution, and if they lost, they would go back to a monarchy and the old way of life and women would have little hope of gaining new rights in the old lifestyle.
September Massacres : September Massacres The September Massacres occurred early in September when the Parisian crowd again wanted to make its needs meet and so they executed or murdered about 1200 people in the city jails, and many were aristocrats or priests, but most of them were just common criminals that couldn't aid them in any way by being killed. The Parisian crowd had assumed that everyone in the jails were counterrevolutionaries. The Frenchwomen involved in this did this because they needed the revolution. Revolution meant change and that couldmean better lives for them and more rights and equality.
Execution of Louis XVI : Execution of Louis XVI By the spring of 1793 the Mountain and their friends the sans-culottes were able to take full control of the Convention and the revolution. In December of 1792, they put Louis XVI on trial, and the Girondists tried to look for a way to save his life at least, but the Mountain didn't allow that, and Louis was convicted by a very small margin of votes of conspiring against the liberty of the people and the nation. He was executed on January 21, 1793. Frenchwomen would have seen this action as fitful because the king had never really been helpful or done anything for them ever since therevolution had begun.
Death of Marat : Death of Marat Jean-Paul Marat was a Swiss-born scientist and physician. He wanted to abolish the monarchy and reform the nation, but he wanted moderate leaders, not radical revolutionary leaders. He was assassinated by a Girondist woman in the year of 1793. He became very active politically and he wrote several works, including one that talked about his idea of a constitution which was similar to the constitution that the Assembly was going to write. Frenchwomen would have probably wanted him to ask for more radical reform because if he only asked for moderate reform, women wouldn't really be addressed and given what they wanted.
Reign of Terror : Reign of Terror The French nation entered war with Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Spain, Sardinia, and Holland in April 1793. This war made new radical political actions in France. The major topic in this war was not about land and such, but more about defending the new republican government and idea that had evolved in France. The French people and government knew that they had to win this war in order to maintain all of the changes that the revolution brought, and so they entered war. Frenchwomen felt this was a good idea because France was fighting to keep their achievements from the revolution, and if they lost, they would lose their achievements from the revolution which would cut off hope of getting equal rights for the women.
Committee of Public Safety Formed : Committee of Public Safety Formed The Committee of Public Safety was established by the Convention in April of 1793. The main leaders of this committee were Jaques Danton, Maximilien Robespierre, and Lazare Carnot. They were all strong republicans that opposed the weak policies that the Girondists promoted. They had an alliance with the sans-culottes of Paris to be able to have more power and get what was needed to be done liking ending the monarchy. Frenchwomen would have supported such republicans and this new institution as something that would reform France and better everyone's lives, hopefully including their lives.
Cult of Reason Proclaimed : Cult of Reason Proclaimed The cult of reason was a form of religion based off deism, and it was created as an opposition to the Cult ofthe Supreme Being made by Robespierre. The creators of the cult of reason were Jacques Hébert, Pierre Gaspard Chaumette and their supporters. The sans-culottes supported the cult of reason, but one thing that both cults had in common was that they were both created because of the dechristianization of France and these cults were an outcome of that action. Frenchwomen might not have liked the opposition of Robespierre because they liked it when the government and Robespierre were involved in reforming the church and controlling the clergy by keeping the clergy under control, that would allow women a better opportunity to bring forth their rights and advance in gaining what they want.
Dechristianization/Robespierre leads Festival of Supreme Being : Dechristianization/Robespierre leads Festival of Supreme Being The Convention attempted to dechristianize France. In November of 1793, the Convention declared that the new calendar would start from the first day of the French Republic being declared. The Convention also said that the Cathedral of Notre Dame wasgoing to be a Temple of Reason. Then, the body sent trusted members known as deputies on mission into the provinces of France to force dechristianization onto the people by closing churches, persecuting the clergy and their followers. Frenchwomen would have liked controlling the clergy since the clergy opposed women’s rights in general. In May of 1794, Robespierre disliked the worship of Reason and so he abolished it, thinking he had done what the people wanted. In its place he established the Cult of the Supreme Being, and this deistic cult was influenced by Rousseau's vision of a religion that would impose morals upon the people. Frenchwomen would have liked it when the government and Robespierre were involved inreforming the church and controlling the clergy this way because theclergy were against rights for women, and so by keeping the clergyunder control, that would allow women a better opportunity to bringforth their rights and advance in gaining what they want.
Marie Antoinette Executed : Marie Antoinette Executed Marie Antoinette was one of the first victims of the Reign of Terror, and she was executed in October of 1793. Her execution took place in the same period of time that the Convention moved against the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women. Frenchwomen liked the execution of Marie Antoinette for the same reason as the execution of Louis XVI, because it marked the ending of the monarchy, and the Frenchwomen were pro-democracy. A democracy would give them a much better chance of getting equal rights than a monarchy like in the old regime.
Execution of Danton : Execution of Danton Jaques Danton was one of the most influential leaders of the Committee of Public Safety. The Committee of Public Safety was established by the Convention in April of 1793. The leaders were all strong republicans that opposed the weak policies that the Girondists promoted. They had an alliance with the sans-culottes of Paris to be able to end the monarchy. Robespierre, however, turned against him for being a conservative republican, and he was accused of being insufficiently militant on the war, profiting monetarily from the revolution, and rejecting any link between politics and moral virtue. So, he was executed during the first week of April. Frenchwomen would have disliked the execution of Danton because he was one of the leaders of the Committee of Public Safety which tried to reform France and bring down the monarchy and Robespierre caused his execution.
Fall of Robespierre and Execution : Fall of Robespierre and Execution In May of 1794, Robespierre considered the worship of reason bad and he abolished it and in its place made the Cult of the Supreme Being. This was a deistic cult that showed that religion could cause people to be morally better people. On July 26, he made an unwise speech in the Convention that the other leaders of the government were conspiring against him and the revolution, and so on July 27, the members of the Convention didn't allow him to make another speech and he was arrested that night and executed the next day. The sans-culottes and Jacobins refused to help him for killing their leaders like Danton. Frenchwomen liked that Robespierre was establishing reforms, especially controlling the church which allows more freedom for women to promote their rights. But, Robespierre went too far by executing other leaders and that is when he probably needed to be stopped and was finally executed.
Directory Established : Directory Established The Directory was the executive body made during the Thermidorian Reaction period. This idea was set forth in the Constitution of 1795 issued by the Convention, and the Directory was going to consist of five people, and they were going to be chosen by the two houses of the legislative body. These five people would be chosen by the Council of Elders from a list given to them by the lower Council of Five Hundred. Frenchwomen would have liked this because this was a step towards a republic, a nation with a democratic government. This executive body chosen by a process through the people is much better to them than just a plain monarch and would allow them more freedom and rights.