Storming of the Bastille
The French Revolution generated political excitement and sometimes violent unrest. Witnessing this unrest stirred Léon to action, and she became a radical for the revolutionary cause. In 1789 at the beginning of the Revolution, she joined in the famous Storming of the Bastille, even carrying her own pike. A couple years later, in 1791, she again joined a passionate political crowd and risked her life by signing the Cordeliers' republican petition at the Champ de Mars.