French Revolution :: essays research papers

What is the end of our renewal? The tranquil enjoyment of liberty and equating the reign ofthat eternal legal expert, the laws of which are graven, not on marble or stone, but in the black Maria of men, evenin the heart of the slave who has forgotten them, and in that of the tyrant who disowns them.(Robespiere, On the Principles of Political Morality)... to put an end to the anarchy in the national of France, to check the attacks upon the throneand the altar, to reestablish the legal power, to restore to the king the protection and the liberty of which heis now deprived and to place him in a position to exercise once more the legitimate authority whichbelongs to him. ( Duke of Brunswick, Proclamation)The little man is superior to establishment and the powers of the world he should address themas a master. (Saint-Just, Republican Institutes)The French Revolution was essentially the pivotal coming of a rising conflictbetween two opposing conceptions as to the source by whic h a governing state derived itsauthority. During the late eighteenth century an ideology accentuating reason, freedom,and the sovereignty of the common man grew in mold opposition to the accepted dogmasof absolutism and shaper right of the monarchy. As illustrated at heart the threeaforementioned quotes, the divergent depth between these two philosophies ofgovernment created a void, one which would ultimately lead to the French Revolutionand fudge the course of Western culture.Within Robespieres quote one is equal to observe the aspirations of theBourgeoisie and peasant revolutionaries an ideal society of liberty and equality whereinone is as much a subject of the state as the state is a subject of thee. This convergingmovement towards reasoning and justice grew from the theories of such revolutionarythinkers as Voltaire, Rousseau, and the Encyclopedists, who presented a vision of a all-encompassing community with equal rights and responsibilities, wherein reason replaced themo narchs claim to divine right as the ultimate authority, and where all men lived in abrotherhood. It must be acknowledged that such influences as Frances mischievous financialdifficulties and the resulting poverty, peasant grievances with such abuses as theseigniorial system, a weak and unassured monarchy under Louis XVI, and the expense ofsupporting Washingtons army in the New World all attributed to the eventual revolt.However, it was this new ideology compulsive upon equality, justice and freedom, an ideologyfurther fueled by some of the ideas that French soldiers returned with from America, thatwas the essential keystone which led to the Revolution.