ANALYZING NAPOLEON S ACTIONS: DID HE ADVANCE OR REVERSE FRENCH REVOLUTION?

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1 ANALYZING NAPOLEON S ACTIONS: DID HE ADVANCE OR REVERSE FRENCH REVOLUTION? The Goals of the French Revolution as stated in the Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) The power in the government comes from the people (separate branches) not in one absolute ruler All people are to be treated equally before the law People advance in society based on talent (merit), not birth or other special privilege Taxes are to be fairly distributed Government protects the natural rights of the people: liberty, property, freedoms of speech and religion Written laws define the rights and freedoms of the people and apply to all people People vote to elect law-makers, thereby expressing the general will of the population Military forces serve the people, not the ruler Directions: After reading the goals of the Revolution listed above, rate Napoleon s actions according to the following scale. Be sure you can defend your ranking based on the listed goals of the Revolution. 1 Action furthered the goals of the French Revolution 2 Action reversed the goals of the French Revolution 3 Action had little or nothing to do with the goals of French Revolution 1. titles of nobility determined by birth were forbidden 2. invaded Russia and lost many soldiers in defeat 3. had a secret police to monitor opponents and disloyal people 4. censored books and plays critical of him or his policies 5. appointed church leaders who had to swear allegiance to France s government 6. established the Napoleonic Code, a set of laws which considered all men equal before the law 7. held a plebiscite (popular vote) for the French people to elect him First Consul for life 8. created public high schools (lycées), technical schools, and universities open to all 9. required the teaching of patriotism in government-run schools 10. restored slavery in French colonies (Haiti) in the Caribbean after it had been abolished 11. limited the rights of women to get a divorce, or control property, if married 12. fired corrupt government officials and chose new ones based on merit (their ability or talent) 13. saw to it that all French citizens paid taxes 14. divorced Josephine and married Maria Louise 15. retained all land taken from the church and distributed to the people 16. was a great military leader known for his skill with artillery 17. allowed for freedom of religion and allowed for marriage outside of the Catholic Church 18. crowned himself Emperor of France 19. ended titles and privileges of nobility and clergy in every country he conquered 20. brought the Napoleonic Code to conquered countries 21. appointed his brothers as kings of several conquered European lands 22. designated his male heir to inherit the throne 23. made the Continental System, which banned trade between England and the Continent 24. lost at the Battle of Waterloo and was exiled to St. Helena

2 NAPOLEON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ESSAY PREPARATION Essay Topic: Assess the validity of the following statement: All the goals of the French Revolution were lost during the years that Napoleon ruled France. 1. Topic Analysis: Goals of the French Revolution what changes were desired by people fighting for the Revolution? Evidence Collection: Using the Analyzing Napoleon s Actions sheet, bullet point the statements from that sheet onto the chart, under the appropriate goal and action by taken by Napoleon: Goal #1: Goals Which of Napoleon s Actions helped the Goals of the Revolution? (All the 1 s from Napoleon s Actions) Which of Napoleon s Actions hurt or reversed the Goals of the Revolution? (All the 2 s from Napoleon s Action) Goal #2: Goal #3: 3. Starting to form your opinion on the topic: Forming an Opinion and then Thesis Statement Formulation To what extent were Napoleon s actions consistent with the goals of the French Revolution? Review your evidence from the chart and decide what your opinion is going to be. You can disagree (the left side of the chart) that all the goals of the French Revolution were lost during the years that Napoleon ruled France, you can agree (the right side of the chart) with the statement OR you can be in the middle (combo of left and right). Decide which position you will defend and indicate it here:

3 Napoleon Essay Developing a Thesis Statement Now that you are aware of the essay task and you have selected a position to defend, you can develop your controlling idea or thesis statement. A strong thesis statement directly addresses the topic and enables you to write a full and complete essay. Because this particular prompt asks you to assess whether or not Napoleon reversed the goals of the French Revolution, you need to make a claim and argue your point of view. To write an argument, you need to 1) declare a particular viewpoint or 2) disagree with a particular viewpoint, or 3) qualify a viewpoint (i.e., both agree and disagree). Your thesis statement should... directly address the prompt/topic. make a clear and interesting argument. use universal language (avoid I, me, my ). be well written and not contain distracting mechanical errors. set up a structure to the forthcoming essay. Assessing Thesis Statements Prompt: Assess the validity of the following statement: All the goals of the French Revolution were lost during the years Napoleon ruled France. Using the bulleted criteria above, rank the following thesis statements in order of excellence. Let #1 be the strongest thesis, #5 the weakest thesis. Even though Napoleon s actions were often autocratic, many goals of the French Revolution were met during his reign over France. He actually went along with a lot of the changes made by the French revolution. Napoleon did not ruin the goals of the french revolution! I think that Napoleon made many changes to France. All the goals of the French revolution were lost during the years Napoleon ruled France. The fight for freedom and equality was the goal for the French revolt, but when Napoleon crowned himself emperor was it for better of worse? Why did you choose the thesis statement you did as the best (#1)? the worst (#5)?

4 Napoleon and The French Revolution Essay Preparation Sheet Name Essay Topic: Assess the validity of the following statement: All the goals of the French Revolution were lost during the years that Napoleon ruled France. Introduction Paragraph: A. Attention Grabber: Your essay should begin with a quotation, an interesting fact or statistic, etc. B. Background and Context for the Essay: Introduce the reader to the subject of your essay by giving some historical context. It should include a clear description of Pre-Revolutionary France (1780s) as well as introduce the goals of the Revolution. Description of Pre-Revolutionary France: What were the characteristics of King Louis XVI s Absolute Monarchy? Goals of the French Revolution: What changes were desired by the people during the Revolution? C. Thesis Statement: A single sentence that clearly states your opinion on the essay s topic. (Do NOT use I, me, or my opinion, etc.) The thesis statement should be the last line of your Introduction paragraph. Please underline your thesis statement in your essay. Essay Structure (Your body paragraphs will be the evidence from the chart that will be used to support your thesis. You do NOT need to write about each goal; you are welcome to have one goal be two body paragraphs, or each goal can be a paragraph. Be sure to select ONLY the evidence that supports your thesis.) Body Paragraph #1 Topic Sentence (a topic sentence introduces what the paragraph will be about. For example, if you are writing about the end of government corruption, state that here and then be sure to use evidence that is ONLY about the end of government corruption): Evidence to support your paragraph: (over)

5 Body Paragraph #2 Topic Sentence: Evidence for body paragraph: Body Paragraph #3 Topic Sentence: Evidence for body paragraph: Conclusion: Opening Sentence/Restatement of Thesis: Summary of main ideas for concluding paragraph: Closing sentence: