Unit Goal - The students will understand the significance of the French Revolution as a turning point in history.

Unit Objectives - The students will be able to:

• Identify the philosophes Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau
• Explain the significance of the Encyclopedia
• Compare and contrast the elements of the three Estates
• Analyze the relationship between economics and social order
• Analyze the documents Declaration on the Rights of Man and Declaration on the Rights of Women to understand the phrase "liberty, equality, fraternity"
• Make a judgment on whether the people of France were better off under a monarchy or under a Constitutional government
• Explain the difference between radicals, conservatives, and moderates
• Identify the role of Robespierre, the guillotine, and specific events associated with the Reign of Terror
• Discuss the institutional changes in France as a result of the French Revolution
• Describe Napoleon's character and influence in France and Europe
• Decide if it was inevitable that Napoleon took over as military and political leader

Day 2
 

TOPIC	Estates
ACTIVITIES	Comparison chart on overhead; discussion of everyday life
MATERIALS	overhead
HOMEWORK	Writing: People of which Estates had the best life? Why? Be sure to compare with at least one other Estates, and to include at least one disadvantage.

Day 3
 

TOPIC	Economics and Royalty
ACTIVITIES	economics game
MATERIALS	rules, roles with name tags, stickers
HOMEWORK	read text re: financial crisis, royalty, meeting of Estates General

Day 4
 

TOPIC	Estates General/Beginning of Revolution
ACTIVITIES	Analyze document excerpts in terms of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity": Declaration of the Rights of Man and Declaration of the Rights of Women (individually, then in pairs)
MATERIALS	document excerpts, overhead, timer
HOMEWORK	If you could choose to petition government for one right that you don't have, what would that be? Write a resolution as if you were actually going to petition your representative.

Day 5
 

TOPIC	Reform/Constitution
ACTIVITIES	Identify roles of radicals, conservatives, and moderates in new government and compare with same roles in our own government. Informal debate on conscription with assigned role.
MATERIALS	overhead
HOMEWORK	read textbook on Reign of Terror for background

Day 6
 

TOPIC	Reign of Terror
ACTIVITIES	Information scavenger hunt: events, Robespierre, guillotine
MATERIALS	handout with questions and website suggestions reserve computer lab
HOMEWORK	Writing:   Diary entry of witnessing a riot. What did you see, how does it make you feel?

Day 7
 

TOPIC	National Convention/Directory
ACTIVITIES	Powerpoint presentation with discussion: laws, institutional changes
MATERIALS	computer with overhead projection
HOMEWORK	Read textbook on Napoleon, and long term effects in Europe. Map identification.

Day 8
 

TOPIC	Napoleon
ACTIVITIES	biography video
MATERIALS	video, television, question handout
HOMEWORK	Read handout of instructions for next two days classroom activities. Make list of specific topics and ideas.

Day 9
 

TOPIC	Summary
ACTIVITIES	Group activity (groups of 4): Create a skit, mural, song, or poem about the French Revolution including cause/effect and conclusions (in addition to provided list of people, events, etc. that must be included in presentation). To be performed/presented the second half of day 10.
MATERIALS	mural paper, markers, colored pencils
HOMEWORK	work on presentation.

Day 10
 

TOPIC	Summary
ACTIVITIES	see day 9
MATERIALS	see day 9
HOMEWORK	none

The French Revolution
http://www.txdirect.net/users/rrichard/napoleo1.htm
A timeline of events association with the French Revolution. Includes links to other sites.

Blake's Bastille
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9790/
A Poem by William Blake entitled "The French Revolution" is interpreted on this web page.

NM's Creative Impulse: Revolutions
http://history.evansville.net/revoluti.html# French Revolution
A long list of Internet links with annotated comments (similar to this list).

French Revolution Home Page
http://www.angelfire.com/va/frenchrev/index.html
Includes biographical information on Louis XV and XVI, and Marie Antionette. Causes and effects of the French Revolution are included with opportunity to comment in the website's guestbook.

The reign of Louis XVI (1774-1791)
http://mistral.culture.fr/lumiere/documents/files/regne_LouisXVI.html
A short web page with links to some of the artists of King Louis XVI's reign.

Royal Geneologies Part 30
http://ftp.cac.psu.edu/~saw/royal/r30.html#I1424
Family statistics of King Louis XI and Marie Antoinette with links to their relatives.

The French Revolution
http://pw2.netcom.com/~giardina/frenchrev.html
Includes a great picture of the guillotine in motion and explanation of the French flag. Many annotated links included to historical figures.

The French Revolution/Electronic Textbook
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/european/TheFrenchRevolution/chap159.html
Comprehensive textbook developed by the Worldwide School in Washington on the French Revolution. Includes a dictionary of terms and people associated with the French Revolution.

The Era of the French Revolution
http://mason.gmu.edu/~gbrown6/documents/fallofking.htm
A scholarly description of the French Revolution with several primary source links.

Mr. Dowling's Electronic Passport
http://www.mrdowling.com/705-links.html
Source for links to topics on the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Links are annotated with humor and opinion.

The Guillotine Headquarters
http://www.logp.dk/guillotine/Pages/Guillot.html
Everything you always wanted to know about the guillotine including pictures.

So Many Died During the French Revolution
http://www.algonet.se/%7Egiljotin/revolt_1.html
Some interesting statistics on exactly who was executed by giullotine during the French Revolution. Includes many links to other guillotine sites.

The French Revolution Timeline
http://members.tripod.com/~Yusaku/FrenchRevolution.html#1793
A timeline of events leading up to through the effects of the French Revolution, with links to particular events.

The Revolution Itself
http://www.wilpaterson.edu/~history/study/ws2/set4b.htm
A dry listing of Western Civ study notes for the Revolution. May be good to scan for information but not terribly pleasing to the eye.

The French Revolution Home Page
http://members.aol.com/agentmess/frenchrev/index.html
A great starting point for researching the French Revolution on the Internet. Contains many annotated links which include primary documents, essays, discussion, and pictures.

The Influence of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution
http://history1700s.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa050998.htm
An overview of the influences of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution with links to information about specific evnets, philosophers and writers.

Philosopher All-Stars: Voltaire
http://www.worldmedia.com/manucon/cards/voltaire.htm
A short biography of Voltaire with some interesting quotable quotes attributable to Voltaire.

Maximillien Robespierre
http://www.lick.pvt.k12.ca.us/academics/history/worldrev/html/robe.html
An essay on Robespierre with a great portrait.

Robespierre, Maximilien Marie Isidore
http://encyclopedia.com/articles/11035.html
A basic encyclopedia entry about Robespierre. Contains some links.

Maximillien Robespierre On the Festival of the Supreme Being
http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/robespierre.htm
A short biography of Robespierre and the text of a speech delievered shortly before his execution.

The French Revolution
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/french/french.html
Interesting commentary about the actual success of the French Revolution, interspersed with William Wordsworth's poetry transforming from optimism to gloom.

Marie Antoinette Let Them Eat Cake
http://www.freeway.fr/MARIE-ANTOINETTE/cake.html
Not very scholarly, but a neat picture of an 18th Century cake recipe and a warning from a physician about the addictive nature of chocoloate.

Marie Antoinette
http://www.austrian-mint.com/e/mahitxt.html
A short biography.

Marie Antoinette Portraits
http://www.batguano.com/VigeeMAgallery.html
Lots of portraits of Marie Antoinette by Le Brun arranged sequentially.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/rousseau/rousseau.html
Some interesting comments on Rousseau and Voltaire supported by quotes from each. Good for showing disparate philosophies preceeding the French Revolution.

The Age of Enlightenment in the Paintings of France's National Museums
http://mistral.culture.fr/files/imaginary_exhibition.html
A few pictures from the Enlightenment and Revolution periods with explanation of different styles. Good for understanding artistic interpretations of current events.

Philosopher All-Stars: Rousseau
http://www.worldmedia.com/manucon/cards/rousseau.htm
A short biography including some quotes and a picture.

The History of Costume: France Just before the Revolution
http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/COSTUME13_INDEX.HTML#Plate76
Drawings of clothing fashions.

The French Revolution
http://www.newtonsodyssey.com/newton/fr/frth05.htm
An essay and online quiz on the Estates.

All You Need to Know About the French Revolution
http://olympus.athens.net/~hartman/essay13.htm
A tongue-in-cheek student essay on the French Revolution (with a note to other students to not use this essay as their own).

The Napoleonic Series
http://www.historyserver.org/napoleon.series/
Everything you ever wanted to know about Napoleon and more...