The French Revolution: A Document Collection
Part One. From Old Regime to Revolution (1610-1789) Chapter 1. The Pre-Revolution 1. Charles Loyseau, A Treatise on Orders (1610) 2. The Parlement of Paris. A. Lit de Justice to Register the Edict of November 1770 (December 7, 1770). B. Parlementary Remonstrance Against the Edict Suppressing Guilds and Communities of Arts and Trades (March 2-4, 1776) 3. Jacques Necker, Preface to the King's Accounts (1781) 4. Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu, "In What Manner the Laws of Civil Slavery Relate to the Nature of the Climate," The Spirit of Laws (1748) 5. Isabelle de Charriere, The Nobleman (1763) 6. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (1762) 7. Nicolas Toussaint le Moyne des Essarts, "The Noailles Affair" (1786) 8. Louis Sebastien Mercier, Paris Scenes (1782-1788) Chapter 2. From Estates General to National Assembly 9. Letter from the King for the Convoking of the Estates General at Versailles (January 24, 1789) 10. Abbe Sieyes, What Is the Third Estate? (January 1789) 11. Cahier de Doleances. A. Cahier of the Parish of St. Germain d'Airan, Written This First Day of March 1789, According to the King's Wishes. B. List of Grievances for the Town of Vire (February 26, 1789) 12. The Declaration of the National Assembly (June 17, 1789) 13. The Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789) 14. Louis XVI at the Royal Session of the Estates General (June 23, 1789) 15. Abbe Sieyes, Speech After the Royal Session (June 23, 1789) Chapter 3. The Suppression of Feudalism 16. Rural Unrest. A. Letter from te commissioners of the Estates of Dauphine to the committee of Twelve (July 31, 1789). B. Letter from La Breaudiere of Segondigny (Poitou) to the Committee of Twelve (July 24, 1789) 17. M. the Duc d'Aiguillon, "Motion Concerning Individual Privileges and Feudal and Seigneurial Rights" (August 4, 1789) 18. The Debate over the King's Veto. A. Abbe Henri Gregoire, "Opinion...on the royal Veto," at the Session of the National Assembly (September 4, 1789). B. Jean-Joseph Mounier, Speech on the Royal Sanction (September 5, 1789) 19. Women' March to Versailles. A. The Woman Cheret, The Event of Paris and Versailles, by One of the Ladies Who Had the Honor to Be in the Deputation to the General Assembly (1789). B. Testimony of Master Jean-Louis Brousse des Faucherets (1790) Part Two. From Liberal to Republican Revolution (1789-1792) Chapter 4. Legislating an Enlightened Regime 20. National Assembly, Debate on Religious Freedom (August 23, 1789) 21. "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen" (August 26, 1789) 22. Petition by the Jews Settled in France to the National Assembly Concerning the Postponement of December 24, 1789 (January 28, 1790) 23. The National Assembly Decreed the Enfranchisement of Free Men of Color (May 15, 1791) 24. Olympe de Gouges, "Declaration of the Rights of Woman" (September 14, 1791) 25. Maximilien Robespierre, "On the Abolition of the Death Penalty," (May 30, 1791) 26. Discussion of the Le Chapelier Law (June 13, 1791) 27. "Insurrection of the Blacks in Our Colonies" Paris Revolutions, (October. 29 to November 5, 1791) 28. Pierre Francois Gossin, "Report" and "Decree on the Transfer of Voltaire's Remains to Saint-Genevieve" (March 1791) Chapter 5. Revolution in the Countryside 29. The Continuing Contest over Seigneurial Rights. A. Petition from Inhabitants of the Somme to the National Assembly Concerning Seigneurial Rights and Taxes (Received by the National Assembly on December 31, 1789). B. Letter from the Community of Marnay (Haute Saone) to the National Assembly Concerning Rights to Waterways (April 15, 1790) 30. Petition from the Residents of Roscoff (Finistere) to the National Assembly Concerning the High Price of Bread (January 1790) 31. Remarks on the Dialect and Mores of the People of the Countryside in the Department of Lot-et-Garonne, Sent by the Society of Friends of the Constitution of Agen to the Abbe Gregoire (1791) Chapter 6. New Tensions 32. The Municipal Council Versus the Society of Friends of the Constitution of Tours (November 1790) 33. The Debate over the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. A. Warning from Monsieur the Archbishop of Vienne, to the Secular and Regular Clergy, and to the Faithful of His Diocese (November 11, 1790). B. Minutes of the Swearing of the Oath by Jean-Baptiste Petitjean, Cure of Epineul, Department of the Cher (January 1791) 34. "Declaration of the King Addressed to All the French About His Flight from Paris" (June 21, 1791) 35. Anonymous, "The Queen's Farewells to Her Darlings of Both Sexes" (1792) Chapter 7. War and a New Revolution 36. Manon Roland on the Meetings of the Girondins in Her Home (1793) 37. The Debate over the Declaration of War. A. Maximilien Robespierre, Discourse on War Delivered to the Jacobin Club (January 2 and 11, 1792). B. J.-P. Brissot, "Third Discourse on the Necessity of War," Delivered to the Jacobin Club (January 20, 1792) 38. The "Marseillaise" (August 1792) 39. The Brunswick Manifesto (July 25, 1792) 40. Deposing the King. A. Petition from the Paris Sections to the National Assembly Demanding the Suspension of the King (August 3, 1792). B. Decree of the National Assembly for Suspending the King (August 10, 1792) 41. The September Massacres (September 1792) 42. Speeches on the Trial of the King. A. Speech by Charles-Francois-Gabriel Morrison (November 13, 1792). B. Speech by the Marquis de Condorcet (December 3, 1792) Part Three. The Republican Crisis (1793-1795) Chapter 8. Popular Movements Beyond the Convention 43. Definitions of the Sans-Culotte, the Moderate, and the Aristocrat (April-May 1793). A. Response to the Impertinent Question, But What Is a Sans-Culotte? B. Definition of the Moderate, the Feuillant, the Aristocrat 44. Address by the Sans-Culottes Section to the National Convention (September 2, 1793) 45. Jean-Paul Marat, The People's Friend (June 23, 1793) 46. Jacques-Rene Hebert, Le Pere Duchesne 47. Petition from the Revolutionary Republican Women to the National Convention on the Leadership of the Armies and the Law of Suspects," (August 1793) 48. Toussaint L'Ouverture. A. Proclamation to the Slaves of Saint Domingue (August 25, 1793). B. Proclamation of August 29, 1793. C. Letter to General Laveaux (May 18, 1794) 49. Anonymous, "Freedom of the Negroes" (1794) 50. Creole of Saint Domingue, My Odyssey: Experiences of a Young Refugee from Two Revolutions (1793) 51. Ronchet, "Address from the Provisional Municipality to the National Convention, in the Name of Liberty, Equality, and the One and Indivisible Republic" (August 2, 1793) 52. Memoirs Concerning the Venee War. A. Memoir of Madame de Sapinaud (1824). B. Memoir of General Turreau (1795) Chapter 9. Legislating the Terror 53. Constitution of the Year I (June 24, 1793) 54. Instituting the Terror (September 5, 1793) 55. Law on Suspects (September 17, 1793) 56. The National Convention Outlaws Women's Clubs and Popular Societies (October 30, 1793) 57. Georges-Jacques Danton, "Concerning Arbitrary Measures and Arrests" (January 23, 1794) 58. Bertrand Barere, on Behalf of the Committee of Public Safety, Report to the National Convention on the Maximum (February 22, 1794) 59. Law of 22 Prairial Year II (June 10, 1794) Chapter 10. Revolution in Society and Culture 60. Anonymous, "Reflections of a Good Citizen in Favor of Divorce" (1789?) 61. Decree Regulating Divorce (September 20, 1792) 62. Lebrun, "Republican Ode to the French People on the Supreme Being" (October-November 1793) 63. Benoit Monestier, "Decree Concerning Fanatical Priests or Troublemakers, and the Celebration of the Decades" (1794) 64. Maximilien Robespierre, "Report on the Principles of Political Morality" (February 5, 1794) 65. L.-A.-L. Saing-Just, "Report in the Name of the Committees of Public Safety and General Security Concerning Prisoners, Presented to the National Convention on 9 Ventose Year II" (February 26, 1794) Chapter 11. The Thermidoran Reaction 66. J.L. Tallien on the Terror (August 28, 1794) 67. P. Gaveaux and J.-M. Souriguieres, "The Alarm of the People" (January 1795) 68. The Prairial Uprising (May 20-23, 1795) 69. Louis XVIII, "Declaration of Verona" (June 24, 1795) 70. Nicolas Toussaint Le Moyne Des Essarts. A. "Introduction," Famous Trials Judged Since the Revolution (1796). B. "Introduction," The Life and Crimes of Robespierre and His Principal Accomplices (1797) Part Four. Directory and Consulate (1795-1803) Chapter 12. Orchestrating Politics from Above 71. Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Citizens (August 22, 1795) 72. Law Against Provocation to Dissolution of Government (April 1796) 73. Council of Five Hundred Decrees the Closure of All Political Clubs (July 24-25, 1797) 74. Proclamation of the Directory to the French People (September 14, 1797) Chapter 13. Dissenters and Opponents 75. Gracchus Babeuf, The Plebeians' Manifesto (November 30, 1795) 76. Marc-Antoine Jullien, Some Advice to the Cisalpine Patriots (1797?) 77. Old Enemies. A. A Chouan in Caen (Septemer 4, 1797). B. A Jacobin in Lyons (March 11, 1797) 78. Anonymous, "On the True Cause of the Revolution" (1797) 79. Public Opinion in Paris (1796-1799) Chapter 14. Cultural Life 80. The Revival of Religious Practice. A. Letter from Commune of Loudun (Vienne) Concerning Refractory Priests (February 23, 1797). B. Letter from the Commissioner in Krignac (Morbihan) Concerning Local Religious Practices (February 27, 1797). C. Letter from the Commissioner in Maguy (Calvados) Concerning Religious Processions (July 11, 1797) 81. Anonymous, " Bloody combat Between Sunday and Decadi" 82. Magazine of the Muses (1797) 83. The Philosophical, Literary, and Political Decade (1796) Chapter 15. Napoleon Closes the Revolution 84. Napoleon Bonaparte, "Proclamation to the French Nation" (November 10, 1799) 85. The Imperial Religious Settlement. A. Concordat with the Papacy (July 1801). B. Napoleon's Proclamation to the French on the Religious Settlement (April 1802) 86. The French Civil Code (1803-1804) 87. Napoleon's Policies Towards Saint Domingue. A. Proclamation to the Citizens of Saint Domingue (December 25, 1799). B. To Citizen Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs (October 30, 1801). C. To Consul Cambaceres (April 27, 1802) Suggestions for Further Reading