 The French Revolution was motivated and shaped by several distinct ideas. Three of these ideas were encapsulated in a well-known revolutionary slogan: “Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!”. The ideology of the French Revolution was broader and more complex than mere slogans though. French revolutionary ideas drew heavily on the political philosophy of the Enlightenment and the writings of the philosophes. Show Sources of ideasFrench revolutionary ideas borrowed from other political systems and places. Many French revolutionaries were keen students of Britain’s government and society, for example. They came to admire its constitutional basis, its separation of powers and its tolerance for individual rights and freedoms. The American Revolution (1775-89), which was concluding as the French Revolution was unfolding, was also significant. The American model provided French reformers with a working example of a successful revolution and a written constitution. The ideas of the French Revolution were also inspired or shaped by grievances specific to 18th century France. Some of the key ideas are summarised below. LibertyIn the context of the 18th century, liberty described freedom from oppression, particularly oppression by the state or government. The most visible instruments of oppression in the Ancien Régime were lettres de cachet, or sealed orders signed by the king. These lettres had several functions but their most common use was to detain and imprison individuals without trial or due process. Several notable figures were imprisoned by lettres de cachet, including Honore Mirabeau (for disgracing his family) and Voltaire (for defamatory writings). Another example of state oppression was the censorship of publications containing criticisms of the king, the aristocracy or the church. The Ancien Régime also used torture to deal with its opponents, though this declined in the late 1700s and was formally abolished in May 1788. EqualityEquality also underpinned the ideas of the French Revolution. The social structure of the Ancien Régime was uneven and unfair, especially with regard to political participation and taxation. The citizens of the Third Estate wanted equality. Some, however, wanted a more limited form of equality than others. The rising bourgeoisie wanted political and social equality with the nobility of the Second Estate. They favoured a meritocracy: a society where rank and status were defined by ability and achievement, rather than birthright and privilege. For this, they looked to the newly formed United States, where a revolution had transferred government power to men of talent and ability. The bourgeoisie was more reluctant about sharing political equality with the lower ranks of the Third Estate, however. They did not support universal voting rights, believing that voting should be a privilege of the propertied classes. FraternityThe revolutionary slogan fraternité is best translated as ‘brotherhood’. Fraternity suggested that the nation’s citizens were bound together in solidarity. It combined nationalism with love and concern for one’s fellow citizens. Fraternity was the most abstract, idealistic and unachievable of all revolutionary ideals. It was more prevalent in the early phase of the revolution when the new government was churning out positive reforms like the August Decrees and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Many visual sources from 1789-90 have fraternity as their central theme. They show the Three Estates cooperating and working together to improve the nation. As the revolution progressed and political divisions emerged, this focus on unity and brotherhood quickly evaporated. Popular sovereigntyUntil the modern era, most kings and governments claimed their authority came from God, a concept called divine right monarchy. This idea was challenged in the Enlightenment by the emergence of popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty is the idea that governments derive their authority from the consent and support of the people, not from God. It was based in part on the idea of a ‘social contract’ between individuals and their government, a concept advanced by writers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. A corollary of popular sovereignty is that if a government fails or mistreats its people, the people have the right to replace it. This principle was used to justify the American and French revolutions. Popular sovereignty underpinned Emmanuel Sieyès‘ What is the Third Estate?. Because the Third Estate formed the vast majority of the nation, Sieyès argued, it was entitled to representation in the national government. ConstitutionalismWhen the Third Estate separated from the Estates-General in June 1789, they met in a nearby tennis court and pledged to remain in assembly until France had a constitution. This desire for a constitution – a written framework that defines the structures and powers of government – was a feature of the American and French revolutions. Frustrated with the failures and broken promises of kings and ministers, many revolutionaries wanted a government underpinned by a constitutional document. These revolutionaries believed a constitutional government would place strict limits on power and spell the end of absolutism and arbitrary decision-making. It would prevent tyrannical abuses and create a government that worked for the benefit of all. For a working example, the French revolutionaries again looked to the United States Constitution, which was drafted in 1787 and enacted the following year. This Constitution created a democratically elected republic, with the branches of government and their powers clearly articulated. It also embodied Enlightenment political concepts like popular sovereignty, natural rights and the separation of powers. Natural rightsAlso emerging from the Enlightenment, particularly in the writings of British philosopher John Locke, was the concept of natural rights. As the name suggests, natural rights are rights and freedoms bestowed on all people, regardless of whatever laws or governments they live under. The American writer Thomas Jefferson described natural rights as “inalienable rights” because they cannot be taken away. According to Locke, there were three natural rights: life, liberty and property. All individuals were entitled to live in safety, to be free from oppression, to acquire property and have it safe from theft or seizure. It is the responsibility and the duty of government, Locke wrote, to uphold and protect the natural rights of individuals. The first phase of the French Revolution was dominated by the liberal bourgeoisie, who were keen on protecting natural rights. The culmination of this was the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, passed by the National Constituent Assembly in August 1789. Anti-clericalismThe Catholic church and its role in society and government were divisive issues in the French Revolution. Many philosophes and French revolutionaries were vocal critics of the Catholic clergy. They condemned the wealth and profiteering of the Catholic church, its exemption from taxation, its political influence, its suppression of new ideas and its neglect of the French people. This dissatisfaction could also be found among the lower clergy, men like Emmanuel Sieyès, who were frustrated by corruption, venality and lack of accountability within the church. Most of those who criticised the church and its higher clergy were not atheists, nor were they opposed to religion. They were anti-clericalists who wanted to reform the clergy and limit its social and political power. Anti-clericalism shaped several revolutionary policies including the seizure of church lands, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (July 1790) and attempts to create a state religion.
Although Thomas Jefferson was in France serving as United States minister when the Federal Constitution was written in 1787, he was able to influence the development of the federal government through his correspondence. Later his actions as the first secretary of state, vice president, leader of the first political opposition party, and third president of the United States were crucial in shaping the look of the nation's capital and defining the powers of the Constitution and the nature of the emerging republic. Jefferson played a major role in the planning, design, and construction of a national capitol and the federal district. In the various public offices he held, Jefferson sought to establish a federal government of limited powers. In the 1800 presidential election, Jefferson and Aaron Burr deadlocked, creating a constitutional crisis. However, once Jefferson received sufficient votes in the electoral college, he and the defeated incumbent, John Adams, established the principle that power would be passed peacefully from losers to victors in presidential elections. Jefferson called his election triumph “the second American Revolution.” While president, Jefferson's principles were tested in many ways. For example, in order to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France he was willing to expand his narrow interpretation of the Constitution. But Jefferson stood firm in ending the importation of slaves and maintaining his view of the separation of church and state. In the end, Jefferson completed two full and eventful terms as president. He also paved the way for James Madison and James Monroe, his political protégés, to succeed him in the presidency.
Writing to William Smith (1755–1816), John Adams' secretary and future son-in-law, Thomas Jefferson seemed to welcome Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts: “god forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion . . . the tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. it is it's natural manure.” Jefferson was confident that rather than repression, the “remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them.” Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#105
Eighteenth-century political philosophers concerned themselves with the balance between the restrictions needed to make a government function and the individual liberties guaranteed by that government. Jefferson's efforts to protect individual rights including freedom of the press were persistent, pivotal, and not always successful. Jefferson was a staunch advocate of freedom of the press, asserting in a January 28, 1786, letter to James Currie (1745–1807), a Virginia physician and frequent correspondent during Jefferson's residence in France: “our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#115
Thomas Jefferson's December 20, 1787, letter to James Madison contains objections to key parts of the new Federal Constitution. Primarily, Jefferson noted the absence of a bill of rights and the failure to provide for rotation in office or term limits, particularly for the chief executive. During the writing and ratification of the constitution, in an effort to influence the formation of the new governmental structure, Jefferson wrote many similar letters to friends and political acquaintances in America. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#106
Thomas Jefferson called the collected essays written by Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804), James Madison, and John Jay (1745–1829), the “best commentary on the principles of government which ever was written.” Jefferson, like many other contemporary Americans, tried to determine which essays had been written by each of the three authors. On this inside cover sheet Jefferson credited Madison with authorship of more than a dozen essays. The question of who wrote each of the essays has never been definitively answered. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#127
On July 4, 1776, in addition to approving the Declaration of Independence, Congress chose Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin to design a great seal for the new country. Franklin proposed the phrase “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,” a sentiment Jefferson heartily embraced and included in the design for the Virginia seal and sometimes stamped it on the wax seals of his own letters. Although Congress rejected the elaborate seal, it retained the words “E Pluribus Unum,” which became the country's motto. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#100
Federal Hall in New York was the site of the meeting of the First Federal Congress in 1789. As secretary of state, Jefferson dealt with Congress here for less than one year before the Federal Government relocated to Philadelphia in 1790, as part of the agreement to create a permanent federal capital district. Jefferson was instrumental in building the national capital district both in his role as secretary of state, and, later, as president. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#130
Thomas Jefferson's February 15, 1791, opinion on the constitutionality of a national bank is considered one of the stellar statements on the limited powers and strict construction of the Federal Constitution. Alexander Hamilton, a proponent of the broadest interpretation of the constitution based on the implied powers of the Federal Constitution, was the leading advocate for the national bank. Jefferson and Hamilton quickly became outspoken leaders of two opposing interpretations of national government. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#129 Back to top National Partisan Politics
James Callender's (1758–1803) History of the United States for 1796 was the original public venue for reports of financial dealings by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton as well as his 1792 adulterous affair with Maria Reynolds (b. 1768), the wife of James Reynolds, a United States Treasury employee. Jefferson's political lieutenant, clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, and later first Librarian of Congress John James Beckley was the immediate source of the confidential documents used by Callender to discredit Hamilton. Callender was one of the political pamphleteers supported by Jeffersonians to attack their Federalist opponents. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#119
President Jefferson's support for freedom of the press was sorely tested in 1802 when James Callender publicly charged that Jefferson “keeps and for many years has kept, as his concubine, one of his slaves. Her name is Sally.” The Richmond Recorder, first printed Callender's account of Jefferson's intimate relationship with his wife's half sister, Sally Hemings, but controversy has surrounded the accusation and the relationship to the present day. Callender, whose vitriolic attacks on Federalist opponents of Jefferson in the 1790s had been secretly funded by Jefferson and Republican allies, turned against Jefferson when the president failed to give him a patronage position.
The Richmond Recorder, September 1, 1802. Courtesy of the Virginia State Library, Richmond (117a) Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#117a
Thomas Jefferson seldom wrote articles or essays for the press, but he did urge his supporters such as James Madison, James Monroe (1758–1831), John Beckley (1757–1807), and David Rittenhouse (1732–1796) to publicly counter the Federalists. In this July 7, 1793, letter, Jefferson urges Madison to attack the ideas of Alexander Hamilton: “for god's sake, my dear Sir, take up your pen, select the most striking heresies, and cut him to peices [sic] in the face of the public.” Both Republicans and Federalists engaged in critical attacks on their opponents. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#116 The Second American Revolution
Jefferson viewed the presidential election of 1800, which won him the presidency, as a second American Revolution. Jefferson believed in “the true principles of the revolution of 1800. for that was as real a revolution in the principles of our government as that of 76. was in it's form; not effected indeed by the sword, as that, but by the rational and peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage of the people. The nation declared it's will by dismissing functionaries of one principle, and electing those of another in the two branches, executive and legislative, submitted to their election.” Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#137
Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated third president of the United States on March 4, 1801, after being elected by the House of Representatives on February 17, 1801, on the thirty-sixth ballot in one of the nation's closest and most divisive presidential contests. In this first inaugural address President Jefferson reached out to heal the political wounds by appealing to non-partisan political unification. This draft shows the careful preparation, including the insertion of a paragraph, with key phrases, such as “we are all republicans: we are all federalists,” that are still used in political arenas. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#138
In his “Sixth Annual Message to Congress” on December 2, 1806, President Jefferson, at the earliest moment allowed by the Constitution, called on Congress to abolish the importation of slaves from outside the United States. The United States Constitution had forbidden Congress to abolish “the Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit” prior to 1808. Congress readily complied with the president's request and the importation of slaves was prohibited as of January 1, 1808. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#112
Thomas Jefferson believed strongly in religious freedom and the separation of church and state. While President, Jefferson was accused of being a non-believer and an atheist. Jefferson attended church services in the Capitol and on several occasions expressed his beliefs including this letter explaining his constitutional view. “I consider the government of the US. as interdicted by the constitution from intermedling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises. this results not only from the provision that no law shall be made respecting the establishment, or free exercise of religion, but from that also which reserves to the states the powers not delegated to the US.” Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#113
In this critical cartoon, Thomas Jefferson as the cock or rooster, courts a hen, portrayed as Sally Hemings. Contemporary political opponents of Jefferson sought to destroy his presidency and his new political party with charges of Jefferson's promiscuous behavior and his ownership of slaves. The cock was also a symbol of revolutionary France, which Jefferson was known to admire and which, his critics believed, Jefferson unduly favored.
James Akin. “A Philosophic Cock,” Newburyport, Massachusetts, c. 1804. Hand-colored aquatint. Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts (140) Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#140
The conservative Federalist Party still had hopes of regaining the presidency when this anti-Jefferson political cartoon appeared in The Echo, a book critical of Jefferson, published by New Englanders. The creators of the cartoon attempted to link fears of excesses of “republican” mobs, Irishmen, blacks, and Democratic Clubs, such as Tammany Hall. Their effort failed. James Madison, Jefferson's closest political protege was elected the fourth president of the United States.
William Leney after a drawing by Elkanah Tisdale in [Richard Alsop and Theodore Dwight] The Echo, with Other Poems. New York: Porcupine Press by Pasquin Petronius, 1807. Copyprint of engraving. Rare Book and Special Collections Division (142) Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#142
The north wing of the Capitol housed the Congress, the Supreme Court, and Library of Congress when the federal government moved to Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1800. At that time, the north wing, designed to house the United States Senate, was the only finished part of the Capitol. Beyond the Capitol is a view westward towards the President's House and Georgetown. Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html#145 Back to top |
Which of the following best summarizes the principle of representative government fought for in the American Revolution?
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