Title: The French Revolution
Headings: 
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
JULY 14, 1789 AND THE ORIGINS OF BASTILLE DAY
WOMEN AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
ROBESPIERRE AND THE TERROR
TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE AND THE SLAVE REVOLT
IN SAINT DOMINGUE
THE VENDÉE
NAPOLEON

Content: In the midst of war abroad and severe economic crises at home, the French Revolution moved into a second phase after the King's death, which emphasized social equality and fraternity whereas the earliest years of the revolution accentuated liberty. Men and women from the working class, believing that they had received few benefits from the revolution, began to demand universal suffrage and participatory democracy. Eventually, Maximilien Robespierre, a lawyer from Arras, emerged as the head of the Jacobin Club when it gained control of the National Convention. When the National Convention conveyed power to the twelve member Committee of Public Safety, of which Robespierre was a member, he gradually assumed dictatorial control of the country. Often thought to have been a disciple of the philosophe Jean-Jacques Rousseau because of his early defense of the principles of direct democracy, Robespierre later defended some forms of representation and then rhetorically identified the interests of the people with those of the Convention and the Committee of Public Safety. As head of the Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre attempted to rule "in the name of the people" by regulating the economy through the use of price controls and by allowing revolutionary tribunals to execute many individuals identified as traitors. His year of rule has consequently been called "the Reign of Terror," although Robespierre, himself, was personally opposed to the death penalty. Altogether, around 50,000 were killed, many of whom lost their heads to the guillotine, a powerful symbol of the violence of the revolution. Among the revolution's victims was Olympe de Gouges. Other women activists were also arrested, and the Jacobins outlawed their clubs, believing that women belonged in the private sphere of the home, not in the public sphere of men.