Date
Project - “It's a Revolution”
It’s story time! Today’s subject is the French Revolution. You are to create a
child’s stylized book and your story must include:
a) Detail the French Revolution:
1) The Meeting of the Estates General
2) The Tennis Court Oath
3) The Storming of the Bastille
4) The March on Versailles
5) The Reign of Terror
6) The Rise of Napoleon
* Make sure each page is titled properly
b) This book will have pictures and written excerpts:
1) It will be about 8 pages{minimum}.
2) Draw all the pictures.
3) Pictures must depict the written{3to 4 sentences minimum}
4) Also create a cover page{drawn or printed}. and a Bio-page of
you the author, include a picture{drawn or printed}.
c) Use the teacher’s Resource packet for all written information. Any
computer-generated material is not an excuse for not completing the
assignment!
d) You will be graded on a 20 -10-5 scale of:
1) Neatness /Organization
2) Follow directions
3) Written
4) Content accuracy
5) Picture development /color
e) Extra credit: All written material typed = ___ pts
*Don’t cry it won’t hurt and it’s due__________________________
In 1789 King Louis XVI assembled the
Estates General to solve the financial crisis
and to stabilize his rule. They had not met
since 1614. The meeting comprised of
representatives from the three Estates: Clergy
(First Estate), Nobility (Second Estate) and
Commoners(Third Estate). However, the king
insisted that the estates vote as a block. This
meant that the clergy and the nobility could
vote together and always outvote the third
estate by two to one. This was a poor decision
by Louis XVI because the third estate
represented 97 percent of his subjects .
Feeling they had been cheated by the king, the
third estate made a momentous decision.
Rather than abide by the king’s decree, they
refused to meet with the other two estates,
suspecting themselves the victims of a vast
conspiracy.
The Tennis Court Oath
July 14th 1789 - Hundreds of hungry people in
Paris stormed the Bastille, a medieval fort and
prison. They were searching for gunpowder and
trying to release political prisoners. When they tried
to cross the drawbridge into the fort, the garrison
opened fire, killing about 100. Only when the
revolutionists brought up cannons, did the
commandant in the fortress surrender. Despite a
promise not to harm him or his men, the mob
attacked the surrendered commander, hacking him
to pieces with their swords. As news spread across
France, peasants began to rise in spontaneous revolt
against their lords
Meeting of the Estates General
June 1789 - The Third Estate declared itself the
National Assembly and moved from the Palace
of Versailles to a large indoor tennis court in
town. Two days later, the clergy (First Estate)
voted to join them. This move began the
destruction of the three-class social system in
France. There the members took an oath—
known as the Tennis Court Oath—not to
disunite or disband until they had drafted a
constitution, reframing the government of
France. This meeting constituted a direct
challenge to the existence of Absolutism in
France.
The Storming of the Bastille
The March on Versailles
Revolution in 1791, had not yet been solved.
Fearing enemies inside and outside of France,
a new Assembly was formed. The New
Legislative Assembly met, the majority of the
delegates to the new assembly were middle
class, young, with little political experience. A
splinter group known as the Jacobins fell under
the leadership of radical men. Maximilien
Robespierre( A Jacob) established special
revolutionary courts, responsible only to him.
These courts tried citizens for treason against
the revolution. During the two years of his
reign, roughly 40,000 French men and women
were executed, often by guillotine. Finally in
July 1794, Robespierre himself was executed by
guillotine.
The Rise of Napoleon
October 5th 1789 - After months of bread
shortages, seven thousand women marched 12
miles from Paris to Versailles to demand bread.
At night a group of women and a handful of men
broke into the palace determined to find the
queen, Marie Antoinette, and murder her. When
guards tried to stop them, the assassins killed two
of them. The French people generally hated
Marie. She was not French, but Austrian, and
spent lavish sums on herself. The mob began to
chant, “To Paris, to Paris!” There seemed little
choice for Louis XVI, his wife, and their
young son but to pack their belongings and
accept their fate. With the king’s capture, the
revolution had taken a decisive turn.
The Reign of Terror
1799 to 1814 - Following the chaos of the Reign of
Terror, the French military gained control of
the government. Two years later, a general named
Napoleon Bonaparte came to power. He stopped
revolutionary reforms such as free speech and
press, but kept a few, such as Abolishment of
feudalism. He did provided France with a new
constitution called the Consulate. Its structure
recalled the ancient days of the Roman Republic
and its later Empire. Napoleon established himself
as First Consul. In reality, he was simply a military
dictator. Napoleon Bonaparte ruled France as
Dictator and Emperor for 15 years.