Some seventy-five years have passed since the publication of the first edition of Bishop Stubbs’ Select Charters. During the interval, that “masterpiece of arrangement and interpretation,” in addition to furthering and facilitating the use of primary sources in the study of early English constitutional history, has served as an inspiration and a model for similar studies in other fields of historical endeavor. Today an abundance of collections of source materials delineates virtually every major period of human history through contemporary records, from the Code of Hammurabi to the Constitution of Soviet Russia; yet nowhere amidst this plenty is there readily accessible a satisfactory book of documents elucidating the history of the Great French Revolution. For many years students of the period have depended upon Frank Maloy Anderson’s The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France, 1789-1901 (Minneapolis, 1904; 2d rev. ed., 1908) for the texts of the principal revolutionary enactments in English translation; but this has long been out of print. E. L. Higgins’ more recent work, The French Revolution as Told by Contemporaries (Boston, 1938), is a useful compilation of excerpts translated from contemporaneous comments; but it includes only a scattered few of those vital public documents which afford such an excellent indication of the aspirations, as well as the accomplishments, of the revolutionaries. And other leading collections, whether of public or of private documents, whether in French or in English translation, are either out of print or extremely limited in content. The present Documentary Survey of the French Revolution is an attempt to remedy this deficiency. The book is designed primarily for teachers and students in undergraduate colleges; it may also prove useful to students beginning postgraduate study in modern European history.
Author(s): John Stewart
Publisher: Macmilan
Year: 1951
Language: English
Commentary: INDEX, NO ILLUSTRATIONS
Pages: 830
Tags: French revolution
A DOCUMENTARY SURVEY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
JOHN HALL STEWART, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History
Western Reserve University
PREFACE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
CHAPTER ONE
THE ESTATES GENERAL
2. Royal Letter of Convocation
3. Regulation for Execution of the Letters of Convocation
5. Cahier of the Clergy of Dourdan
7. Cahier of the Third Estate of Dourdan
8. Declaration on the National Assembly
9. The Tennis Court Oath
12. The King’s Declaration of Intentions
13. The King’s Closing Speech
CHAPTER TWO
THE NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
14. Report of the British Ambassador on the Events of 14 July, 1789
15. The August 4th Decrees
19. Decree on Martial Law
22. Decree Dividing France into Departments
24. Decree Reorganizing the Judiciary
32. Decree Requiring the Clerical Oath
CHAPTER THREE
THE NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
35. Excerpts from the Correspondence of the Revolution Society of London
39. Declaration of French Foreign Policy
41. The King’s Second Declaration
42. Placard Advocating Republicanism
48. The Constitution of 1791
49. Royal Proclamation
CHAPTER FOUR
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
50. Proclamation Ordering the Count of Provence to Return to France
51. Decree Ordering Emigres to Return to France
52. Decree Requiring Non-Juring Clergy to Take the Civic Oath
56. French Declaration of War on Austria
61. Petition of Agitators
64. The Brunswick Manifesto
66. Decree Establishing a Special Criminal Court
72. Decree concerning the Death Penalty
73. Condorcet’s Report on Education
74. Decree for the Convocation of the National Convention
CHAPTER FIVE
THE FIRST PHASE OF THE NATIONAL CONVENTION
76. The Second Propagandist Decree
77. The Indictment of Louis XVI
78. Proclamation of the Convention to the French People
80. Decree concerning the Formation of a Committee of General Defence
81. French Declaration of War on England and Holland
84. Order for the Establishment of Watch Committees
86. Decree on the Formation of a Committee of Public Safety
88. Decree concerning Non-intervention and Treason
the French nation, its sovereignty, and the indivisibility and the unity of the Republic, founded upon liberty and equality.
89. Circular from the Paris Jacobins to Local Branches of the Club
91. Guadet’s Speech on the Paris Commune
92. Decree on Public Relief
94. Proclamation of the Convention concerning the Events of 31 May and 1 June, 1793
THE FIRST PHASE OF THE NATIONAL CONVENTION
CHAPTER SIX
THE SECOND PHASE OF THE CONVENTION:
THE REIGN OF TERROR
THE SECOND PHASE OF THE CONVENTION:
95. The Constitution of 1793
99. The Law of Suspects
100. Declaration on Revolutionary Government
103. The Law of the Maximum
105. The Embargo on English Goods
106. Decree Establishing a Uniform System of Weights and Measures
111. Decree concerning Copyrights
112. Decree concerning Public Education
116. The Law of 22 Prairial
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE FINAL PHASE OF THE CONVENTION:
THE THERMIDORIAN REACTION
123. The Constitution of the Year III
124. Decree Establishing a Conservatory of Arts and Crafts
127. Decree Establishing Central Schools of Sciences, Letters, and Arts
128. Decree Establ ishing a Conservatory of Music
129. Decree concerning Schools of Public Services
132. Proclamation of the Convention concerning the Events of 13 Vendemiaire
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE DIRECTORY: FIRST PHASE
CHAPTER NINE
THE DIRECTORY: SECOND PHASE
153. Bonaparte’s Letter concerning England
155. Treaty between France and the Cisalpine Republic
156. Treaty between France and the Helvetic Republic
158. French Declaration of War on Austria
CONCLUSION
INDEX
