Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Why Did Republicans Support The French Revolution

Don't Miss


Thomas Jefferson In 1786

Smug Republicans and the French Revolution

While in London in the spring of 1786, United States minister to France Thomas Jefferson sat for his first known portrait. Mather Brown , one of a group of young American artists in London, executed the portrait. A thoughtful Jefferson is portrayed with a statue of the Goddess of Liberty. Jefferson paid 10 pounds for the painting, which he received in 1788.

Mather Brown. Thomas Jefferson. London,1786. Copyprint of oil on canvas. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Bequest of Charles Francis Adams

Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffworld.html#182

Chapter 7: Foreign Affairs Delay The Republican Victory

Republicans believed they had won the House elections of 1792, and hoped that this would be sufficient to achieve their goal of ridding the federal government of anti-republican policies, and therefore that principled partisanship would not need to be repeated. But things did not work out that way, so Republicans not only had to repeat their victory of 1792 in later House elections, but also had to gain control of the presidency and the Senate, before they could achieve this aim. From 1793 to 1800, foreign policy disputes and their domestic repercussions erupted onto the scene even before the Republican-controlled House produced by the elections of 1792 convened. This eruption showed that the Republicans had to make a more sustained and more comprehensive partisan challenge to Federalist control of the federal government. The events of 1793-1800 had the effect of making this partisanship seem more necessary, even though these events also made both parties more deeply and bitterly opposed to each other.


Why The French Revolutions Rational Calendar Wasnt

What ever happened to the most radical attempt in modern history to challenge the Western standard temporal reference framework?

The last time clocks were set and calendars hung according to the French Republican Calendar was some 147 years ago this month. For a glorious eighteen days, the Paris Commune resurrected the quixotic calendar of their revolutionary forebearers from a century before. From the 16th of Floréal to the 3rd of Prairal in the 79th Year of Liberty, citizens followed a decimal calendar. The revolutionary zeal to reform all aspects of society burned so intensely that it altered the very names of the days and months. As part of a project of rationalization and dechristianization, the new calendar marked the establishment of the first French Republic in 1792, the first year of the new order.

Want more stories like this one?

That last use of the revolutionary calendar, in 1871, the year of the Commune, saw the formation of Germany, the sixth year of Reconstruction in the United States, and the publication of George Eliots Middlemarch. In rocky Montmartre, overlooking the arrondissements of Paris, the radicals of the Commune were about to be violently suppressed by the government. But for two-and-a-half weeks, in May, they tried to reform time along rational lines, to exorcise our days of dead gods and saints. Their history shows that time resists such taming, and that the old gods are not so easily dispersed.

* * *

VentoseFloreal


* * *

You May Like: What Did Republicans Gain From The Compromise Of 1877

Effects On Foreign Relations

Genêt continued to defy the wishes of the U.S. government, sending American recruits to capture British ships and rearm them as privateers. Washington sent Genêt an 8,000-word letter of complaint on Jefferson and Hamiltons recommendation. Genêt refused to cease his activities, challenging Washingtons executive authority and blatantly disregarding official American policy.

The Citizen Genêt Affair spurred Great Britain to instruct its naval commanders in the West Indies to seize all ships trading with the French. The British captured hundreds of American ships and their cargoes, increasing the possibility of war between the two countries. The Affair came to an end when the Jacobins, having taken power in France in January 1794, sent an arrest notice to Washington that demanded that Genêt return to France. Genêt, knowing that he would likely be sent to the guillotine, asked Washington for asylum. It was HamiltonGenêts fiercest opponent in the cabinetwho convinced Washington to grant him safe haven in the United States. With his mission and life of public service officially over, Genêt relocated to New York and lived the rest of his life as a private gentleman farmer.

Sketch of Citizen Genêt: Edmond-Charles Genêt came dangerously close to violating President Washingtons Proclamation of Neutrality.


Adams And The Revolution Of 1800

Why Did the French Revolution Divide American Society ...

Shortly after Adams took office, he dispatched a group of envoys to seek peaceful relations with France, which had begun attacking American shipping after the ratification of the Jay Treaty. The failure of talks, and the French demand for bribes in what became known as the XYZ Affair, outraged the American public and led to the Quasi-War, an undeclared naval war between France and the United States. The Federalist-controlled Congress passed measures to expand the army and navy and also pushed through the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Alien and Sedition Acts restricted speech that was critical of the government, while also implementing stricter naturalization requirements. Numerous journalists and other individuals aligned with the Democratic-Republicans were prosecuted under the Sedition Act, sparking a backlash against the Federalists. Meanwhile, Jefferson and Madison drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which held that state legislatures could determine the constitutionality of federal laws.

Also Check: How Many Presidents Were Democrats And Republicans

The Citizen Gent Affair And Jays Treaty

In 1793, the revolutionary French government sent Edmond-Charles Genêt to the United States to negotiate an alliance with the U.S. government. France empowered Genêt to issue letters of marquedocuments authorizing ships and their crews to engage in piracyto allow him to arm captured British ships in American ports with U.S. soldiers. Genêt arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, amid great Democratic-Republican fanfare. He immediately began commissioning American privateer ships and organizing volunteer American militias to attack Spanish holdings in the Americas, then traveled to Philadelphia, gathering support for the French cause along the way. President Washington and Hamilton denounced Genêt, knowing his actions threatened to pull the United States into a war with Great Britain. The Citizen Genêt affair, as it became known, spurred Great Britain to instruct its naval commanders in the West Indies to seize all ships trading with the French. The British captured hundreds of American ships and their cargoes, increasing the possibility of war between the two countries.

Jays Treaty confirmed the fears of Democratic-Republicans, who saw it as a betrayal of republican France, cementing the idea that the Federalists favored aristocracy and monarchy. Partisan American newspapers tried to sway public opinion, while the skillful writing of Hamilton, who published a number of essays on the subject, explained the benefits of commerce with Great Britain.

Did Britain Help The French Revolution

British support for the French Revolution waned as it seemed to become a disorderly bloodbath, miles away from the principles it had originally stood for. With the advent of the Napoleonic wars and threats of invasion in 1803, British patriotism became prevalent. Radicalism lost its edge in a period of national crisis.


Read Also: How Do Republicans Really Feel About Trump

Why Did The United States Fail To Support The Haitian Revolution Of 1801 Against France

The Haitian Revolution created the second independent country in the Americas after the United States became independent in 1783. U.S. political leaders, many of them slaveowners, reacted to the emergence of Haiti as a state borne out of a slave revolt with ambivalence, at times providing aid to put down the revolt, and, later in the revolution, providing support to Toussaint LOuvertures forces. Due to these shifts in policy and domestic concerns, the United States would not officially recognize Haitian independence until 1862.

Impact of the French Revolution on St. Domingue

Prior to its independence, Haiti was a French colony known as St. Domingue. St. Domingues slave-based sugar and coffee industries had been fast-growing and successful, and by the 1760s it had become the most profitable colony in the Americas. With the economic growth, however, came increasing exploitation of the African slaves who made up the overwhelming majority of the population. Prior to and after U.S. independence, American merchants enjoyed a healthy trade with St. Domingue.

The French Revolution had a great impact on the colony. St. Domingues white minority split into Royalist and Revolutionary factions, while the mixed-race population campaigned for civil rights. Sensing an opportunity, the slaves of northern St. Domingue organized and planned a massive rebellion which began on August 22, 1791.

American leaders terrified of a slave revolt

The Revolution caused a Refugee Crisis

Did The Democratic Republicans Support The French Revolution

George Washington and the French Revolution APUSH Review

Democratic Republicans, including Thomas Jefferson, supported the people in the French Revolution. They believed the people had a right to use violence to win their freedom and establish a republic where people have equal rights; the same reason we fought Britain in the American Revolution.


Don’t Miss: What Is Trump’s Approval Rating Among Republicans

Abolition Of The Ancien Rgime

Even these limited reforms went too far for Marie Antoinette and Louis’ younger brother the Comte d’Artois; on their advice, Louis dismissed Necker again as chief minister on 11 July. On 12 July, the Assembly went into a non-stop session after rumours circulated he was planning to use the Swiss Guards to force it to close. The news brought crowds of protestors into the streets, and soldiers of the elite Gardes Françaises regiment refused to disperse them.

On the 14th, many of these soldiers joined the mob in attacking the Bastille, a royal fortress with large stores of arms and ammunition. The governor de Launay surrendered after several hours of fighting that cost the lives of 83 attackers. Taken to the Hôtel de Ville, he was executed, his head placed on a pike and paraded around the city; the fortress was then torn down in a remarkably short time. Although rumoured to hold many prisoners, the Bastille held only seven: four forgers, two noblemen held for “immoral behaviour”, and a murder suspect. Nevertheless, as a potent symbol of the Ancien Régime, its destruction was viewed as a triumph and Bastille Day is still celebrated every year.

Undeclared Naval War With France

Jays Treaty also angered France, which saw it as a violation of the Franco-American mutual defense treaty of 1778. By 1797, French privateers began attacking American merchant shipping in the Caribbean and harassing vessels on American trade routes.

The result was an undeclared naval warwhat later became known as the Quasi-Warwith France, most of which was fought in the Caribbean from 1798 to 1800. During the war, the United States slowly pushed the French out of the West Indian trade system. Ultimately, the Quasi-War strengthened the U.S. navy and helped expand American commercial networks in the Caribbean. This was a victory for the Federalists, who sought to establish an American merchant presence in the Atlantic. Eventually, the United States and France agreed to end hostilities and to end the mutual defense treaty of 1778an act that President Adams considered one of the finest achievements of his presidency.


Read Also: Which Republicans Might Vote For Impeachment

Jefferson To Tsar Alexander I On Government And Trade

Russian Tsar Alexander I and President Jefferson exchanged ideas and books on republican constitutions , as well as plans for expanding trade between the two nations in a short series of letters, 18041808. These letters reflect the efforts of the national leaders to establish good relations between the two rising powers independent of the titanic struggle being waged between France and Great Britain.

1 of 2

Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffworld.html#205a

Era Of Good Feelings 18171825

Why Did the French Revolution Divide American Society ...

Monroe believed that the existence of political parties was harmful to the United States, and he sought to usher in the end of the Federalist Party by avoiding divisive policies and welcoming ex-Federalists into the fold. Monroe favored infrastructure projects to promote economic development and, despite some constitutional concerns, signed bills providing federal funding for the National Road and other projects. Partly due to the mismanagement of national bank president William Jones, the country experienced a prolonged economic recession known as the Panic of 1819. The panic engendered a widespread resentment of the national bank and a distrust of paper money that would influence national politics long after the recession ended. Despite the ongoing economic troubles, the Federalists failed to field a serious challenger to Monroe in the 1820 presidential election, and Monroe won re-election essentially unopposed.


Recommended Reading: Who Is The Speaker Of The House For Republicans

The Ardour For Liberty

‘How much the greatest event that has happened in the history of the world, and how much the best’ – Charles James Fox, Opposition Whig leader 1789

News of the opening events of the French Revolution was greeted with widespread enthusiasm by British observers, although some, patronisingly, saw it as evidence that France was abandoning absolutism for a liberal constitution based on the British model. Enthusiasm was most potent among those championing domestic political reform – Dissenters excluded from political office by the Test and Corporation and Subscription Acts, members of the middling orders denied the vote by antiquated constituency boundaries and a restricted suffrage, and Parliamentary Whigs whose ambitions for office were blocked by Pitt’s firm hold on power. For these groups and their associated literary, scientific and political circles, events in France signified a much deeper change in government.

I see the ardour for liberty catching and spreading…

Revolution And The Church

Historian John McManners argues “in eighteenth-century France, throne and altar were commonly spoken of as in close alliance; their simultaneous collapse … would one day provide the final proof of their interdependence.” One suggestion is that after a century of persecution, some French Protestants actively supported an anti-Catholic regime, a resentment fuelled by Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire. Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote it was “manifestly contrary to the law of nature… that a handful of people should gorge themselves with superfluities while the hungry multitude goes in want of necessities.”

The Revolution caused a massive shift of power from the Catholic Church to the state; although the extent of religious belief has been questioned, elimination of tolerance for religious minorities meant by 1789 being French also meant being Catholic. The church was the largest individual landowner in France, controlling nearly 10% of all estates and levied tithes, effectively a 10% tax on income, collected from peasant farmers in the form of crops. In return, it provided a minimal level of social support.


Don’t Miss: Why Do Republicans Hate Planned Parenthood

Galit: How Equal Is It

Like many aspects of modern France, the antecedent to this court case lies in the era of the French Revolution and the values it ingrained in the French national consciousness. The French Revolution, like the American war for independence, was a repudiation of monarchy and a commitment to the republican values of the Enlightenment, succinctly summarized in Frances national motto, libert, galit, fraternit . However, French republicanism took a much stricter form than its American cousin.

It is in this context, then, that a doctor can legally be fired from a government-run hospital for a beard suggestive of his Muslim identity. However, galit is not necessarily as equal as it may seem on paper. A ban on religious symbols in schools has a much more drastic impact on hijab-wearing Muslims than on Christians who wear cross-shaped necklaces. Frances republican ideals took shape when virtually the entire French population was white and Catholic. However, a recent surge in diversity, most of it occurring over the last half century, is testing the limits of Frances staunch republicanism and its compatibility with a multiethnic society.

Unlock This Answer Now

The Fall of the French Constitutional Monarchy

Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this answer and thousands more. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime.

Already a member? Log in here.


As we have seen repeatedly in history, people in nations often assign all the ills of the country to the political party or the regime in power at the time.; In France, especially since the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, whose extravagance earned him many enemies and the resentment of the taxed masses, people felt that the monarchy was a cruel dictatorship.; The emerging merchant class also resented that they were grouped with the peasants into the Third Estate, which had no voting power, no voice in government.

So, it is understandable that after the Revolution of 1789, a new government was established, one that did not belong to any surviving aristocracy. From 1789-1791 a National Assembly abolished privileges, venality, and “feudal obligations.”; Ecclesiastical properties were confiscated and the church and law courts were reconstructed.; ; In 1791 the call for a Clerical Oath of Loyalty brought about a conflict between the new sovereignty and traditional loyalties.; When King Louis XVI;tried to escape to Paris, civil was seemed near, but the First Assembly maintained control; a Paris crowd was dispersed and the king reinstated briefly before a second revolution when the National Assembly established a republic in 1792.; Sadly, in 1793 the Reign of Terror began when the militant organization, the Montagards, gained control.

Recommended Reading: Did Republicans Block Funding For Election Security

In Favour Of A Constitutional Monarchy

  • Not inherently undemocratic: Opponents of the republican movement argue that the current system is still democratic as the Government and MPs of Parliament are elected by universal suffrage and as the Crown acts only on the advice of the Parliament, the people still hold power. Monarchy only refers to how the head of state is chosen and not how the Government is chosen. It is only undemocratic if the monarchy holds meaningful power, which it currently does not as government rests with Parliament.
  • Safeguards the constitutional rights of the individual: The British constitutional system sets limits on Parliament and separates the executive from direct control over the police and courts. Constitutionalists argue that this is because contracts with the monarch such as the Magna Carta, the , the Act of Settlement and the Acts of Union place obligations on the state and confirm its citizens as sovereign beings. These obligations are re-affirmed at every monarch’s coronation. These obligations, whilst at the same time placing limits on the power of the judiciary and the police, also confirm those rights which are intrinsically part of British and especially English culture. Examples are Common Law, the particular status of ancient practices, jury trials, legal precedent, protection against non-judicial seizure and the right to protest.

Popular Articles