Popular Culture
Winning over the Nobles
To make his new hybrid state work, Napoleon curried the favor of the old regime nobles. He needed their approval to make his empire convincing.
The French Civil Code (1804)
Napoleon brought to completion a project dear to the hearts of the revolutionaries, the drafting of new law codes.
Napoleon’s Reasons for Making Himself Emperor (December 1804)
When he made himself emperor, Napoleon clearly rejected the republican form of government. Here he tries to claim that hereditary government is necessary in a large state. The presence of the pope at his coronation seemed to confer legitimacy on the act.
Oath as Consul for Life (4 August 1802)
The oath that Bonaparte took on becoming consul for life gives a good idea of the image that he tried to project: protector of the gains of the Revolution and insurer of order. In retrospect, his claims about not wishing to make war ring hollow.
Napoleon’s Personal Feelings about Religion
Klemens von Metternich, head of the Austrian government and therefore a sharp critic of Napoleon, reported that Napoleon viewed Catholicism in largely utilitarian, even cynical terms.
Napoleon’s Own Account of His Coup d’Etat (10 November 1799)
Napoleon glosses over the conspiracy to overthrow the Constitution of 1795 and the duly elected legislature. This conspiracy was organized in part by his younger brother Lucien. He does, however, admit that some of the deputies opposed his endeavor and tried to arrest him.
Napoleon as an Ambitious Young General in 1796–97
In his memoirs, André François Miot de Melito, a special minister from the French government to Piedmont, tells of his first impressions of the young Napoleon Bonaparte, who was only twenty-seven but already an important general because of his victories in the Italian campaign.
The Pennsylvania Gazette: U.S. Vigilance (13 December 1797)
The Haitian uprising stoked the fears of whites in the United States that a similar uprising would occur among enslaved populations in their country.
The Pennsylvania Gazette: Unrest Continues (28 September 1796)
This newspaper details how despite the abolition of slavery in Haiti, turbulence continued in many parts of the colony. The French relied on local generals, including Toussaint L’Ouverture, to try to restore order.
The Pennsylvania Gazette: Free blacks and mulattos flee (4 December 1793)
Along with whites, free blacks and mulattos were also among those who fled the Haitian uprising. Mulattos could own slaves and plantations, and many of them did. Free blacks often manned the militias used to hunt down runaway slaves.