Sample DBQ

Directions: You will use the documents attached to answer the following question: Without Enlightenment ideas, would there have been a French Revolution? To prepare for the DBQ, you will do the following: (1) Read and annotate each of the documents, focusing on the question above. (2) After reading each document, create an argument that answers the question. (3) Next, fill out the DBQ Outline with evidentiary support for your argument.

Document A
Source: Henri Peyre, The Influence of Eighteenth Century Ideas on the French Revolution, Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 10 no.1, 1949. If there is really one almost undisputed conclusion on the origins of the Revolution reached by historical studies coming from radically opposite factions, it is that pure historical materialism does not explain the Revolution. Certainly riots due to hunger were numerous in the eighteenth century . . . there was discontent and agitation among the masses. But such had also been the case under Louis XIV, such was the case under Louis-Philippe and deep discontent existed in France in 1920 and 1927 and 1934 without ending in revolution. No great event in history has been due to causes chiefly economic in nature and certainly not the French Revolution. France was not happy in 1788, but she was happier than the other countries of Europe and enjoyed veritable economic prosperity. Her population had increased from 19 to 27 million since the beginning of the century and was the most numerous in Europe. French roads and bridges were a source of admiration for foreigners. [But] eighteenth-century philosophy taught the Frenchman to find his condition wretched, or in any case, unjust and illogical and made him disinclined to the patient resignation to his troubles that had long characterized his ancestors. . . . The propaganda of the "Philosophes" perhaps more than any other factor accounted for the fulfillment of the preliminary condition of the French revolution, namely, discontent with the existing state of things.

Document B
Source: Arthur Young, Travels in France (1792). The poor people seem poor indeed; the children terribly ragged, - if possible, worse clad than if with no clothes at all; as to shoes and stockings, they are luxuries. A beautiful girl of six or seven years playing with a stick, and smiling under such a bundle of rags as made my heart ache to see her. They did not beg, and when I gave them anything seemed more surprised than obliged. One third of what I have seen of this province seems uncultivated, and nearly all of it in misery. What have kings, and ministers, and parliaments, and states to answer for their prejudices, seeing millions of hands that would be industrious idle and starving through the execrable maxims of despotism, or the equally detestable prejudices of a feudal nobility.

Document C
Source: John Hall Stewart, ed., A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution (New York: MacMillan, 1951). The following is a list of complaints against the king of France from the Third Estate. 3. That no citizen lose his liberty except according to law; that, consequently, no one be arrested by virtue of special orders, or, if imperative circumstances necessitate such orders, that the prisoner be handed over to the regular courts of justice within forty-eight hours at the latest. 63

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5. That the property of all citizens be inviolable, and that no one be required to make sacrifice thereof for the public welfare, except upon assurance of indemnification based upon the statement of freely selected appraisers. . . . 6. That [all] tax[es] be borne equally, without distinction, by all classes of citizens and by all kinds of property . . .

Document D
Source: Roger B. Beck et al., World History: Patterns of Interaction (Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2007) In addition to the growing resentment among the lower classes, other factors contributed to the revolutionary mood in France. New ideas about government, serious economic problems, and weak and indecisive leadership all helped to generate a desire for change. New views about power and authority in government were spreading among the Third Estate. Members of the Third Estate were inspired by the success of the American Revolution. They began questioning long-standing notions about the structure of society. Quoting Rousseau and Voltaire, they began to demand equality, liberty, and democracy. The Comte DAntraigues, a friend of Rousseau, best summed up their ideas on what government should be: The Third Estate is the People and the People is the foundation of the State; it is in fact the State itself; the . . . People is everything. Everything should be subordinated to it . . . It is in the People that all national power resides and for the People that all states exist.

Document E
Source: Lecture 11: The Origins of the French Revolution, The History Guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History, available at http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture11a.html. The effect of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution has created a debate which will not soon be resolved. But, in general, it can be said that there is no causal relationship between the philosophes of the Enlightenment and the outbreak of the French Revolution. Few philosophes, if any, advocated revolution and the reason is fairly clear. No philosophe advocated the violent overthrow of the existing order of things because violence was contrary to human reason. But because the philosophes of the Enlightenment attacked the established order together with authority of any kind, their ideas helped to produce what can only be called a revolutionary mentality.

Document F
Source: Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, 1789.
The following is a declaration made by the National Assembly (founded by the Third Estate), which helped lay the foundation for the French Revolution. The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man . . . Articles: 1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good. 2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. 3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.

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6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents. 11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.

Document G
Source: Source: Choices for the 21st Century Education Program, The French Revolution, Sept. 2009, p. 9-10.
Although not all of the writers of the Enlightenment agreed with each other or made the same arguments, what the philosophers and writers did share was the idea that society could be improved by using the principles of rationality and reason. The ideas of the Enlightenment challenged the fundamental principles of French society, including the authority of the king and the Catholic Church. Enlightenment writers believed that rationality, not merely tradition or religious ideas, should be the driving force behind all decisions. Philosophers sought to shape the opinions of educated members of the public, and inspired them to challenge the authority of the king.

Document H
Source: World History: Patterns of Interaction and World History: Connections to Today
One of the causes of Frances decline was a mushrooming financial crisis that was due in part to years of deficit spending, that is, a governments spending more money than it takes in. King Louis XIV had left France deeply in debt. Wars like the . . . American Revolution strained the treasury even further. . . . Further, the cost of living was rising sharply. In addition, bad weather in the 1780s caused widespread crop failures, resulting in a severe shortage of grain. The price of bread doubled in 1789, and many people faced starvation.

Document I
Source: King Louis XV, 1766
It is in my person alone that sovereign power resides. . . . It is from me alone that my courts derive their authority; and the plenitude of their authority, which they exercise only in my name, remains always in me. . . . It is to me alone that legislative power belongs, without any dependence and without any division. . . . The whole public order emanates from me, and the rights and interests of the nation...are necessarily joined with mine and rest only in my hands.

Document J
Source: Arthur Young, Travels in France and Italy During the Years 1787, 1788, and 1789 , E.P. Dutton & Co,
1927 (adapted). In the south of France there is a taille [tax on the land and its produce]. There is an injustice in levying the amount each person must pay. September 5, 1788: The poor people seem very poor indeed. The children are terribly ragged. June 10, 1789: The lack of bread is terrible. Stories arrive every moment from the provinces of riots. . . . The price of bread has risen above peoples ability to pay. This causes great misery. July 1789: . . . . I was joined by a poor woman who complained of the hard times. The tailles and feudal dues [rents owed the lords] are crushing us, she said.

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Vocabulary
Document A Admiration: feeling of approval Agitation: the state of being upset, disturbed Discontent: dissatisfaction Faction: a group within a larger group Materialism: emphasis on material objects Propaganda: information or rumors spread to help or harm someone Resignation: giving up Undisputed: not questioned; certain Veritable: being truly or very much so Prosperity: wealth Wretched: miserable Document B Clad: dressed Despotism: absolute authority in government Detestable: hateful Execrable: very bad Idle: not working Industrious: hard working Maxims: rules of conduct Uncultivated: not used for raising crops Document C Appraisers: someone who estimates the value of property Imperative: unavoidable; absolutely necessary Indemnification: compensation Inviolable: secure from destruction Virtue: because of Document D Resentment: feeling of anger toward another Indecisive: undecided Sovereignty: having control over a given area Preservation: to keep safe from harm Imprescriptible: cannot be rightfully taken away Document E Causal: suggesting a cause Advocated: supported Document F Calamities: a great disaster Contempt: state of being despised, dishonored Document G Rationality: reasonableness, the possession of reason Document H
Mushrooming: expanding, increasing

Document I: Sovereign Power: Unrestricted power, supreme rule Document J: Injustice: unfairness Levying: taxing, charging Ragged: untidy, dirty, torn

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