French Revolution :: essays research papers

What is the end of our revolution? The tranquil enjoyment of liberty and comparison the reign ofthat eternal justice, the laws of which are graven, not on marble or stone, but in the hearts of men, evenin the heart of the slave who has disregarded 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 interior of France, to check the attacks upon the throneand the altar, to reestablish the legal power, to restore to the ability the security 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 unfortunate man is superior to government and the powers of the world he should address themas a master. (Saint-Just, Republican Institutes)The French Revolution was essentially the pivotal culmination of a rising conflictbetween two opposing conceptions as to the source by which a governing state derived itsauthority. During the late eighteenth century an political theory accentuating reason, freedom,and the sovereignty of the common man grew in direct opposition to the accepted dogmasof absolutism and divine right of the monarchy. As illustrated within the threeaforementioned quotes, the different depth between these two philosophies ofgovernment created a void, one which would ultimately lead to the French Revolutionand alter the course of Western culture.Within Robespieres quote one is able to observe the aspirations of theBourgeoisie and peasant revolutionaries an ideal society of liberty and equality whereinone is as much a field of honor 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 aliberal 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 severe financialdifficulties and the resulting poverty, peasant grievances with such abuses as theseigniorial system, a weak and unstable monarchy chthonic Louis XVI, and the expense ofsupporting Washingtons army in the New World all attributed to the eventual revolt.However, it was this new political theory set 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.