Copy Of 3rd Period Reign Of Terror Doc Activity
Names: Dom Occhiato Zaeleigh Barela, Hunter Perratt Instructions:
1. All group members read the document, then each group member annotate twice per doc. 2. Discuss and then thoroughly answer the questions that follow each document Document A: Reign of Terror
The Terror Grips France
Foreign armies were not the only enemies of the French Republic. The Jacobins had thousands of enemies within France itself
.
These included peasants who were horrified by the king’s execution, priests who would not accept government control, and rival leaders who were stirring up rebellion in the provinces. How to contain and control these enemies became a central issue. Robespierre Assumes Control
In the early months of 1793, one Jacobin leader, Maximilian
Robespierre, slowly gained power. Robespierre and his supporters set out to build a “republic of virtue” by wiping out every trace of France’s past. Firm believers in reason, they changed the calendar, dividing the year into 12 months of 30 days and renaming each month. This calendar had no Sundays because the radicals considered religion oldfashioned and dangerous. They even closed all churches in Paris, and cities and towns all over France soon did the same. In July 1793, Robespierre became leader of the Committee of Public Safety. For the next year, Robespierre governed France virtually as a dictator, and the period of his rule became known as the Reign of Terror. The Committee of Public Safety’s chief task was to protect the
Revolution from its enemies. Under Robespierre’s leadership, the committee often had these
“enemies” tried in the morning and guillotined in the afternoon. Robespierre justified his use of terror by suggesting that it helped French citizens to remain true to the ideals of the
Revolution. . . Thousands of unknown people were also sent to their death, often on the flimsiest of charges.
For example, an 18yearold youth was sentenced to die for cutting down a tree
1. All group members read the document, then each group member annotate twice per doc. 2. Discuss and then thoroughly answer the questions that follow each document Document A: Reign of Terror
The Terror Grips France
Foreign armies were not the only enemies of the French Republic. The Jacobins had thousands of enemies within France itself
.
These included peasants who were horrified by the king’s execution, priests who would not accept government control, and rival leaders who were stirring up rebellion in the provinces. How to contain and control these enemies became a central issue. Robespierre Assumes Control
In the early months of 1793, one Jacobin leader, Maximilian
Robespierre, slowly gained power. Robespierre and his supporters set out to build a “republic of virtue” by wiping out every trace of France’s past. Firm believers in reason, they changed the calendar, dividing the year into 12 months of 30 days and renaming each month. This calendar had no Sundays because the radicals considered religion oldfashioned and dangerous. They even closed all churches in Paris, and cities and towns all over France soon did the same. In July 1793, Robespierre became leader of the Committee of Public Safety. For the next year, Robespierre governed France virtually as a dictator, and the period of his rule became known as the Reign of Terror. The Committee of Public Safety’s chief task was to protect the
Revolution from its enemies. Under Robespierre’s leadership, the committee often had these
“enemies” tried in the morning and guillotined in the afternoon. Robespierre justified his use of terror by suggesting that it helped French citizens to remain true to the ideals of the
Revolution. . . Thousands of unknown people were also sent to their death, often on the flimsiest of charges.
For example, an 18yearold youth was sentenced to die for cutting down a tree