Popular Culture
The New World and the Old: An American at the Opening of the Estates–General (May 1789)
On 5 May 1789, the deputies of all three orders convened before the King as the Estates–General. In attendance, among other visiting foreign dignitaries, was the American Gouverneur Morris, who recorded his observations in a diary.
The King Seeks Foreign Assistance (20 November 1790)
Despite a show of support for the Revolution, by the fall of 1790, the royal family and its entourage increasingly felt that the changes of the past eighteenth months had cost them their dignity and power.
An Attempt at Conciliation: The Royal Address of 4 February 1790
On 4 February 1790, the Marquis de Favras was executed for plotting to spirit the King out of France and stage a coup against the Constituent Assembly.
View from the Top: the October Days
In this letter to a friend, Madame Elizabeth, Louis XVI’s younger sister, takes an upbeat approach to the October march on Versailles.
The Mayor of Paris on the Taking of the Bastille
Jean Sylvain de Bailly, mayor of Paris and leader of the National Assembly, recorded his views of what was going on in Paris in the uprising of mid–July. Here we see the efforts of the delegates and their rejection by Louis XVI.
Royal Decree Convoking the Estates–General and the Parlementary Response (1788)
By the fall of 1788, parlementary opposition to royal reforms had brought about a stalemate, with the Parlements refusing all reforms to the tax system.
Constance Pipelet, Review of a Book by Théremin, On the Condition of Women in a Republic
In this review of a book by an author favorable to women’s education, Pipelet argues that republics should demonstrate a different attitude toward women than monarchies.
Interrogation of a Suspected Rioter (June 1795)
The police interrogated those accused of participating in the May 1795 riots. This interrogation gives a good idea of the police’s concerns.
Denunciation of a Woman Participant in the Uprising of May 1795
Once the uprising of May 1795 had been suppressed, the government set up a military tribunal, which gathered denunciations of presumed rioters. This one gives a good sense of the charges made and the kind of language used ("infernal sect of Jacobin terrorists, blood–drinkers, etc.").
Police Reports on Women’s Discontent (Spring 1795)
Agitation over the shortage of bread reached a breaking point in the spring of 1795. Women played critical roles in these disturbances, as they had before the Revolution.