Winter Break - a history review!

Readings and background information

Check out my reading list!

    Other readings
  • Primary Source by Sieyès

    - What is the Third Estate?

    1789-1791 TIMELINE
  • 5 May 1789

    • - The Estates Généraux are scheduled to meet

    - The Assemblée Nationale opens

    - King Louis XVI and his financial advisor Jacques Necker discuss the economic state of France

  • 3 June 1789

    • - Deputies arrive and reinvigorate the 3rd Estate

  • 17 June 1789

    • - The Assemblée Nationale (which had been called the common assembly up to this point) is formally named "l'Assemblée Général"

  • 20 June 1789

    • - Tennis Court Oath

  • 14 July 1789

    • - Storming of the Bastille, now known as France's Independence Day

  • 15 July 1789

    -King Louis XVI comes to the Assemblée Générale and pretends to submit his power

  • 4 Aug 1789

    - Nobles give up some of their privileges (44 speeches this day)

  • 5 Aug 1789

    - Nobles immediately retract what the said the day prior

  • 10 Aug 1789

    - August 10th Decrees that eliminates the feudal regime for good

  • 26 Aug 1789

    - The Assemblée Générale starts to write The Declaration of Rights of Man

  • 11 Sept 1789

    - King allows the Assemblée Générale to publish The Declaration of Rights of Man, but only after he receives the power to veto

    - An acquiesce or fight moment for the King. If he agrees, he loses power, but if he doesn't he must fight the Assemblée Générale

  • 5 Oct 1789

    - Fishwives rebel against the skyrocketing price of bread. At this time, a loaf cost a month's wages - and French citizens at the time at 2lbs of bread a day

  • July 1790

    - The Assemblée Générale passes legislation about the Clergy, religious reforms

  • May 1791

    - The Assemblée Générale passes a ruling on slavery and freedom

    - Free people of color born to 2 free parents will be given citizen rights

  • August 1791

    - Previous ruling on slavery issued in May 1791 is revoked

  • 20 June 1791

    - The infamous Flight to Varennes

  • 17 July 1791

    - The Champs de Mars Massacre, up to 50 civilians die

  • September 1791

    - The Constitution of 1791 is ratified, but the King does not sign it

    • At the point, the Assemblée Générale dissolves and becomes the Legislative Assembly.
    END OF ARCHIVES
    Questions that I want to ask
  • Did the bad Harvest of 1788/the Great Fear in the countryside ever get discussed in the Assemblée Générale? How does the good and plentiful Harvest of 1789 reverse this trend?
  • How did the speeches of Aug 4th, 1789 differ in sentiment from the speeches of Aug 5th, 1789? For context, on Aug 4th, nobles made radical concessions in their power, and then on Aug 5th, they immediately retracted all that was said.
  • How did language in the Assemblée Générale differ when they were writing the Declarations of Rights of Man during the period of Aug 26th - Sept 11th? How does word usage differ in this ~two week time period than it did in the entire ~2year time period of this archive study?
  • Were women mentioned at all at the Assemblée Générale? Did legislators discuss the fishwives of the October Days (Oct 5th, 1789)? Do these men ever mention bread ("pain", "farine") and its impact on the revolution? Do governmental reforms shaped by the Assemblée Générale include women in their language?
  • Bread shaped the French Revolution, does the word "pain" or "farine" occur often in the Assemblée Générale scripts?
  • How are the topics of slavery and French colonies discussed at the Assemblée Générale? This is a point of paradox for the revolution - does the Declaration of Rights of Man apply to slaves? How does this language change over time?
  • Who are the most important speakers in the Assemblée Générale? Whose ideas are transient? Who speaks the most often?
  • What is the frequency at which Radicals vs Moderates hold the floor? Which party speaks more and does this change throughout the years?
  • Which party accrues the most support (measured in applause, "applaudissements")? Does the frequency of applause change over time?
  • After the October Days of 1789, the Assemblée Générale becomes more of a spectacle that appeals to the people. Does tone and general word sentiment shift from before to now?
  • After the October Days of 1789, the Assemblée Générale becomes more radical and swings to the left. Is this supported by the archives?
  • After the October Days of 1789, it is found that speaker Mirabeau is secretly working for the king. How does the popularity of Mirabeau change over time? Compare this shift to the change in Lafayette's popularity (Lafayette also experiences a huge shift in popularity, he is loved in 1789 and hated in 1791, Mirabeau's trend is essentially the opposite).
  • How does the Flight to Varennes in the summer of 1791 change discourse in the Assemblée Générale? How does sentiment towards the king change? Measure this is word co-occurence with reference to "le roi" - are the words surrounding this positive or negative?
    Important Actors
  • Necker
  • Robespierre
  • Mirabeau
  • Lafayette
  • Danton
  • Talleyrand
  • Sieyès
  • Condorcet
  • Baille (Provisional leader of Tennis Court Oath June 20th, 1789 and mayor of Paris by July 15th, 1789)
  • Monsieur l'abbé Maury