French Revolution Dbq

In all of the documents listed, liberty and equality are described with regards to the French Revolution. These concepts are shown to have evolved over the course of the revolution, and this is proven by the documents chosen. Liberty and equality were emphasized as either major or minor ideas in the documents, and although some were only alluded to, it is evident that the ideas of liberty and equality changed during the years of the French Revolution. Also, some of the terms used connoted different things at the end of the Revolution than the original Revolutionaries of 1789, which demonstrates the transformation of the use of words which were symbolic at that time.

Liberty and equality were both highly emphasized during the revolution, and

they were important to many of the revolutionaries in their arguments. For example, one of the original revolutionaries, Emmanuel Sieyes, wrote ‘What is the Third Estate,’ which asked that exact question, and he answered it by stating that the third estate is necessary for a strong nation, and despite this implying that it was necessary for success, at that time it was “shackled and oppressed,” and it, therefore, was not being granted the proper liberty and equality which it was highly deserving of. Sieyes made the simple but thoughtful point of asking what the third estate was by elaborating on how it was being suppressed, and if it was given more power, it would be free and flourishing, and everything would be going well in France. In 1789, the National Constituent Assembly passed the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen,’ which elaborated on the liberty which man deserved of which was to be granted through the ‘Rights of Man’ by stating that “each man has no limits,” except those determined by law. In Edward Burke’s Letter to a Young Frenchman, he states that one of the liberties of man which should never be changed is social freedom, and there would be liberty in justice. From these three documents it is evident that the revolutionaries believed that liberty was denoted by freedom to do what he feels is proper, and that there should be a good level of equality among the people.
Over the next few years, there were a few other documents written which show the thoughts evolving into slightly different understandings.

In 1790, the Jews of Paris, Alsace and Lorraine wrote a petition to the National Assembly. In this petition, they asked that they finally be declared citizens, because religion does not change who a person is with regards to his country. This intriguing argument demonstrates that prior to this there was a major lack of equality, or at least, there was not complete equality, and the Jews in France had come to the point where the previous definition of a want for freedom and liberty was being minimized and the want for equality was coming into the picture. The petition continues by stating that the French “do not want [the Jews] to die, and yet [they] refuse them the means to live.” This line creates a won argument, because it addresses the current situation, and states what the non-Jews of France were thinking at that time, so they couldn’t reject a point which they knew was correct. Eventually, in 1791, just days before the dissolution of the national assembly, the Jews were granted equality under the law. Another document which proves that equality was becoming the central point instead of freedom or liberty was Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Wollstonecraft makes her argument by first noting that women are denied of all political privileges, and have very few privileges when they get married. However, she

says, women are equal in smarts and many other things which men were supposed to be better in, and that there is no reason for women not to have all of, if not almost all of, the rights of men. The thoughts of the Jews of France and Wollstonecraft clearly demonstrate that the concept of equality was evolving quickly, and liberty wasn’t really improving.
In 1793, Robespierre wrote the Declaration of Rights, in which he states that the misfortunes of the world are caused by forgetting about the rights of man.

If the right of property is limited, society helps the citizens, and society provides subsistence for the citizens the world will be a better place. These ideas include both equality and liberty- equality in that the right of property should be limited, and liberty in the society helping the citizens and making sure that no one is left behind. In his speech in 1794, Robespierre said that they should want to achieve liberty, equality and justice, and that bad passions should be extinguished and replaced by good passions. Also, if this was set with laws, the nation will only have virtue and terror will be non-existent. These ideas also fall under the categories of both liberty and equality. This demonstrates that in between the five years of 1789-1794, the ideas of the revolutionists changed from liberty being the most important, to equality having principal, and finally to both sharing a key role in the French

Revolution.
Liberty and equality were key ideas during the French Revolution. However, at some points one was dominant, while towards the end it all came together as one big idea of both liberty and equality. These terms were understood differently over the course of time, and although the ideas set forth by the original revolutionaries were very good, they evolved over time to fit in with the demand. Therefore, these key concepts which were so important during the French Revolution can be seen to have evolved based on the thoughts of that specific time until they were understood in a completely different way at the Revolution’s end in 1799.