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Women

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Citoyenne Lacombe’s "Report to the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women Concerning What Took Place 16 September at the Jacobin Club"

Claire Lacombe, an actress and one of the leaders of the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, published a pamphlet to counter charges made against her and the club. By September 1793 the revolutionary government had begun to harass the leaders of the club.

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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

The English writer Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97) argued against both Burke and Rousseau, defending the notion of natural rights, particularly rights for women, such as equal education.

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Petition of Women of the Third Estate to the King (1 January 1789)

Little is known about women’s grievances or feelings in the months leading up to the meeting of the Estates–General in November 1789. They did not have the right to meet as a group, draft grievances, or vote (except in isolated individual instances) in the preparatory elections.

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Ignacia Funes and Teresa Bulnes to Manuel López

In Córdoba, Argentina's second largest province, two women, Ignacia Funes and Teresa Bulnes, found themselves defending the conduct of two children, who were accused by their stepfather, known only as "Roca," of composing pro-Unitarian songs.

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The Queen of Louis XVI King of France at the Guillotine, 16 October 1793

An idealized portrait of Marie Antoinette at the moment of death. Unlike the pale, aged woman the contemporaries observed, this later print memorialized a beautiful, absolutely pure, woman.

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Image of the Queen’s Defense

The trial of the Queen is here depicted in a tinted engraving by Jean Duplessi–Bertaux as part of his series of Historical Scenes of the French Revolution.

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Trial of Marie Antoinette of Austria

Some months after the execution of her husband, Marie Antoinette found herself in the dock of the public prosecutor, Antoine Quentin Fouquier–Tinville.

The Contrast, 1793 British Liberty/French Liberty
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The Contrast, 1793 British Liberty/French Liberty

In this color print from 1793, the height of the Terror, two circular drawings appear next to each other, contrasting two types of liberty. English liberty exists, as the figure suggests, but based on the Magna Carta, calm prevails.

Slaves and Free Blacks in Saint Domingue
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Enslaved and Free Blacks in Saint Domingue

This engraving pairs images of enslaved people and free blacks in four categories: dress, deportment, entertainment, and access to water. Although there are differences between the pairs, these are not as great as they might be.

Considerations on the Principal Events of the French Revolution
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Germaine de Staël, A French Writer Exiled by Napoleon

De Staël was the daughter of Jacques Necker, Louis XVI’s Swiss Protestant finance minister. She published novels, literary tracts, and memoirs and became one of the best-known writers of the early nineteenth century. Napoleon exiled her in 1803.