Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Contents
1 Haitian Revolution 1
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Situation in 1789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Social stratification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.2 Regional conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Impact of the French Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Relationship between the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4.1 Reason For Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4.2 Enlightenment Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4.3 Brutality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4.4 Lasting Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.5 Influence of Enlightenment thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.6 1791 slave rebellion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 Jacobin 6
2.1 Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Transfer to Paris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Rapid growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.4 Initial moderation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5 The Terror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.6 Fall from power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.7 Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.7.1 Political influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.7.2 Cultural influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.8 List of Presidents of the Jacobin Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.9 Electoral results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.10 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.11 Citations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.12 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.13 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.13.1 Primary sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.14 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.15 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
i
ii CONTENTS
2.15.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.15.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.15.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 1
Haitian Revolution
This article is about the 1791–1804 revolution led by Toussaint L'Ouverture. For the 1986 revolution, see Haitian
Revolution of 1986.
The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) was a slave revolt in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated
in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Republic of Haiti. The Haitian Revolution was the only
slave revolt which led to the founding of a state. Furthermore, it is generally considered the most successful slave
rebellion ever to have occurred and as a defining moment in the histories of both Europe and the Americas. The revolt
began with a rebellion of black African slaves in April of 1791. It ended in November of 1803 with the French defeat
at the Battle of Vertières. Haiti became an independent country on January 1, 1804, with Jean-Jacques Dessalines
being chosen by a council of generals to assume the office of governor-general. He ordered the 1804 Haiti massacre
of the white Haitian minority, resulting in the deaths of between 3,000 and 5,000 people, between February and April
1804.[1]
Although an independent government was created in Haiti, the country’s society continued to be deeply affected
by the patterns established under French colonial rule. Because many white planters had provided for the mixed-
race children they had by black African women, by giving them education and (for males) training and entrée into
the French military, the mulatto descendants who along with the wealthy freedmen had been orchestrators of the
revolution, became the elite of Haitian society after the war’s end. Many of them had used their social capital to
acquire wealth, and some already owned land. Some had identified more with the colonists than the slaves.
Their domination of politics and economics after the revolution created another two-caste society, as most Haitians
were rural subsistence farmers.[2] In addition, the nascent state’s future was compromised in 1825 when it was forced
to pay 150 million gold francs in reparations to French slaveholders, in order to receive French recognition and end
the nation’s political and economic isolation.[1] Though the amount of the reparations was reduced in 1838, Haiti was
unable to finish paying off its debt until 1947, and the payments left the country’s government deeply impoverished,
causing instability.[3]
1.1 Background
Many of the riches of the Caribbean depended on Europeans’ taste for sugar, which plantation owners traded for pro-
visions from North America and manufactured goods from European countries. The island also had extensive coffee,
cocoa, indigo, and cotton plantations, but these were smaller and less profitable than the wealthy sugar plantations.[4]
Starting in the 1730s, French engineers constructed complex irrigation systems to increase sugarcane production.
By the 1740s Saint-Domingue, together with Jamaica, had become the main supplier of the world’s sugar. Sugar
production depended on extensive manual labor provided by enslaved Africans in the harsh Saint-Domingue colonial
plantation economy. The white planters who derived their wealth from the sale of slave produced sugar knew they
were outnumbered by slaves by a factor of more than ten; they lived in fear of slave rebellion.[5] White masters ex-
tensively used the threat of physical violence to maintain control and limit this possibility for slave rebellion. When
slaves left the plantations or disobeyed their masters, they were subject to whipping, or to more extreme torture such
as castration or burning, the punishment being both a personal lesson and a warning for other slaves. Louis XIV, the
French King, passed the Code Noir in 1685 in an attempt to regulate such violence and the treatment of slaves in
1
2 CHAPTER 1. HAITIAN REVOLUTION
general in the colony, but masters openly and consistently broke the code, and local legislation reversed parts of it
throughout the 18th century.[6]
In 1758, the white landowners began passing legislation restricting the rights of other groups of people until a rigid
caste system was defined. Most historians have classified the people of the era into three groups. One was the
white colonists, or blancs. A second was the free blacks (usually mixed-race, known as mulattoes or gens de couleur
libres, free people of color). These gens de couleur tended to be educated and literate and they often served in the
army or as administrators on plantations. Many were children of white planters and enslaved mothers. The males
often received education or artisan training, sometimes received property from their fathers, and freedom. The third
group, outnumbering the others by a ratio of ten to one, was made up of mostly African-born slaves. A high rate of
mortality among them meant that planters continually had to import new slaves. This kept their culture more African
and separate from other people on the island. Many plantations had large concentrations of slaves from a particular
region of Africa, and it was therefore somewhat easier for these groups to maintain elements of their culture, religion,
and language. This also separated new slaves from Africa from creoles (slaves born in the colony), who already had
kin networks and often had more prestigious roles on plantations and more opportunities for emancipation.[7] Most
slaves spoke a patois of French and West African languages known as Creole, which was also used by native mulattoes
and whites for communication with the workers.[8]
White colonists and black slaves frequently had violent conflicts, many of which surrounded the slaves who had
escaped the plantations. Many of these runaway slaves – called Maroons – lived on the margins of large plantations
and lived off what they could steal from their previous masters. Others fled to towns, to blend in with urban slaves
and the freed slaves who often concentrated in those areas. If caught, these runaway slaves would be severely and
violently punished. However, some masters tolerated “petit marronages”, or short-term absences from plantations.[7]
Often, however, larger groups of runaway slaves lived in the woods away from control. They often conducted violent
raids on the island’s sugar and coffee plantations. Although the numbers in these bands grew large (sometimes into the
thousands), they generally lacked the leadership and strategy to accomplish large-scale objectives. The first effective
maroon leader to emerge was the charismatic François Mackandal, who succeeded in unifying the black resistance.
A Haitian Vodou priest, Mackandal inspired his people by drawing on African traditions and religions. He united
the maroon bands and also established a network of secret organizations among plantation slaves, leading a rebellion
from 1751 through 1757. Although Mackandal was captured by the French and burned at the stake in 1758, large
armed maroon bands persisted in raids and harassment after his death.[5][9]
In 1789 Saint-Domingue produced 60% of the world’s coffee and 40% of the world’s sugar imported by France and
Britain. The colony was the most profitable possession of the French Empire. Saint-Domingue was also the wealthiest
and most prosperous, for the plantation owners at least, colony of all the colonies in the Caribbean.
In 1789, whites numbered 32,000; mulattoes and free blacks, 28,000; and black slaves, an estimated 452,000.[10]
The lowest class of society was enslaved blacks, who outnumbered whites and free people of color by ten to one.[5]
The slave population on the island totaled almost half of the one million slaves in the Caribbean by 1789.[11] Two
thirds were African-born, they tended to be less submissive than those born in the Americas.[12] The death rate in the
Caribbean exceeded the birth rate, so imports of enslaved Africans were necessary in order to maintain the numbers
required to work the plantations. The slave population declined at an annual rate of two to five percent, due to
overwork; inadequate food, shelter, clothing and medical care; and an imbalance between the sexes, with more men
than women.[13] Some slaves were of a creole elite class of urban slaves and domestics, who worked as cooks, personal
servants and artisans around the plantation house. This relatively privileged class was chiefly born in the Americas,
while the under-class born in Africa labored hard, more often than not, under abusive and brutal conditions.
Among Saint-Domingue’s 40,000 white colonials in 1789, European-born Frenchmen monopolized administrative
posts. The sugar planters, the grands blancs, were chiefly minor aristocrats. Most returned to France as soon as
possible, hoping to avoid the dreaded yellow fever, which regularly swept the colony.[14] The lower-class whites, petits
blancs, included artisans, shopkeepers, slave dealers, overseers, and day laborers.
Saint-Domingue’s free people of color, the gens de couleur, numbered more than 28,000 by 1789. Around that
time, colonial legislations, concerned with this growing and strengthening population, passed discriminatory laws that
visibly differentiated these freedmen by dictating their clothing and where they could live. These laws also barred
1.3. IMPACT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 3
them from occupying many public offices.[4] Many of these freedmen were also artisans and overseers, or domestic
servants in the big houses.[15] Le Cap Français, a northern port, had a large population of freed slaves, and these men
would later become important leaders in the 1791 slave rebellion and later revolution.[16]
In addition to class and racial tension between whites, free people of color, and enslaved blacks, the country was
polarized by regional rivalries between the North, South, and West.
The North was the center of shipping and trading, and therefore had the largest French elite population. The Plaine
du Nord on the northern shore of Saint-Domingue was the most fertile area with the largest sugar plantations. It
was the area of most economic importance, especially as most of the colony’s trade went through these ports. The
largest and busiest port was Le Cap Français (present-day Le Cap Haïtien), the capital of French Saint-Domingue
until 1751, when Port-au-Prince was made the capital.[16] In this northern region, enslaved Africans lived in large
groups of workers in relative isolation, separated from the rest of the colony by the high mountain range known as
the Massif du Nord. These slaves would join with urban slaves from Le Cap to lead the 1791 rebellion, which began
in this region. This area was the seat of power of the grands blancs, the rich white colonists who wanted greater
autonomy for the colony, especially economically.[17]
The Western Province, however, grew significantly after the capital was relocated to Port-au-Prince in 1751, and the
region became increasingly wealthy in the second half of the 18th century when irrigation projects allowed signifi-
cant sugar plantation growth. The Southern Province lagged in population and wealth because it was geographically
separated from the rest of the colony. However, this isolation allowed freed slaves to find profit in trade with British
Jamaica, and they gained power and wealth here.[16] In addition to these interregional tensions, there were conflicts
between proponents of independence, those loyal to France, allies of Spain, and allies of Great Britain – who coveted
control of the valuable colony,
In France, the majority of the Estates General, an advisory body to the King, constituted itself as the National As-
sembly, made radical changes in French laws, and on 26 August 1789, published the Declaration of the Rights of
Man, declaring all men free and equal. The French Revolution shaped the course of the conflict in Saint-Domingue
and was at first widely welcomed in the island. At first, wealthy whites saw it as an opportunity to gain independence
from France, which would allow elite plantation-owners to take control of the island and create trade regulations that
would further their own wealth and power.[4] There were so many twists and turns in the leadership in France, and
there were so many complex events in Saint-Domingue, that various classes and parties changed their alignments
many times. However, the Haitian Revolution quickly became a test of the ideology of the French Revolution, as it
radicalized the slavery question and forced French leaders to recognize the full meaning of their revolution.[18]
The African population on the island began to hear of the agitation for independence by the rich European planters,
the grands blancs, who had resented France’s limitations on the island’s foreign trade. The Africans mostly allied
with the royalists and the British, as they understood that if Saint-Domingue's independence were to be led by white
slave masters, it would probably mean even harsher treatment and increased injustice for the African population. The
plantation owners would be free to operate slavery as they pleased without the existing minimal accountability to their
French peers.[17]
On the 4th of February 1794 under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre, the French Convention voted for the
abolition of slavery [...] Robespierre is still revered by the poor of Haiti today.
Centre for Research on Globalization[19]
Saint-Domingue’s free people of color, most notably Julien Raimond, had been actively appealing to France for full
civil equality with whites since the 1780s. Raimond used the French Revolution to make this the major colonial issue
before the National Assembly of France. In October 1790, Vincent Ogé, another wealthy free man of color from the
colony, returned home from Paris, where he had been working with Raimond. Convinced that a law passed by the
French Constituent Assembly gave full civil rights to wealthy men of color, Ogé demanded the right to vote. When
4 CHAPTER 1. HAITIAN REVOLUTION
the colonial governor refused, Ogé led a brief insurgency in the area around Cap Français. He was captured in early
1791, and brutally executed by being “broken on the wheel" before being beheaded.[9] Ogé was not fighting against
slavery, but his treatment was cited by later slave rebels as one of the factors in their decision to rise up in August
1791 and resist treaties with the colonists. The conflict up to this point was between factions of whites, and between
whites and free blacks. Enslaved blacks watched from the sidelines.[5]
Leading 18th-century French writer Count Mirabeau had once said the Saint-Domingue whites “slept at the foot
of Vesuvius",[20] an indication of the grave threat they faced should the majority of slaves launch a sustained major
uprising.
1.4 Relationship between the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolu-
tion
The Haitian Revolution mirrored the French Revolution in the fact that it was a revolution ignited from below, by the
underrepresented majority of the population.[21] The lack of representation of the needs and opinions of the French
Third Estate, the impoverished section of society, was the driving force for the French Revolution. A huge majority
of the supporters of the Haitian revolution were slaves and freed Africans that were treated unequally by society and
the law.[22] Economic disparities between the Estates in France and Racial issues in modern-day Haiti created an
unsustainable social environment. Change was imminent for both societies.
Naturally, the Enlightenment movement reached France before it reached Haiti. The Enlightenment is embodied in
ideas of egalitarianism and rational change.[23] These theories were highly applicable for the Third Estate and they
spread like wildfire from Europe to the Caribbean slaves. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen was partially a result of Enlightenment thinking and popularized the notion that men are born free with
rights.[24] Ideas presented in the Declaration in conjunction with French legislation stating that people of color are
free if born to free parents (This legislation was a direct result of the upheaval surrounding Vincent Ogé’s murder.)
[25]
initiated the thinking that ALL- not only free, wealthy, white males- people deserve freedom and certain rights.
1.4.3 Brutality
Despite the idealist, rational and utopian thinking surrounding both uprisings, extreme brutality was a fundamental
aspect of both uprisings. Besides initial cruelty that created the precarious conditions that bred the revolution, there
was violence from both sides throughout the revolution. The period of violence during the French Revolution is
known as the Reign of Terror. Those killed via guillotine, “breaking at the wheel”, or some other horrific death
machines were perceived as adversaries to the revolution and death toll estimates range from 18,000 to 40,000.[26]
Total casualties for the French Revolution are estimated at 2 million.[27] In the Caribbean, total casualties totaled
approximately 162,000.[28] Violence in Haiti was largely characterized by military excursions, riots, the murder of
slave owners, and guerilla warfare.[29]
The Revolution in Haiti did not wait on the Revolution in France. The individuals in Haiti relied on no other resolution
but their own. The call for modification of society was influenced by the revolution in France, but once the hope
for change found a place in the hearts of the Haitian people, there was no stopping the radical reformation that
was occurring.[30] The Enlightenment ideals and the initiation of the French Revolution were enough to inspire the
Haitian Revolution, which evolved into the most successful and comprehensive slave rebellion.[30] Just as the French
were successful in transforming their society, so were the Haitians. On April 4, 1792, The French National Assembly
granted freedom to slaves in Haiti [29] and the revolution culminated in 1804; Haiti was an independent nation solely
of freed peoples.[25] The activities of the revolutions sparked change across the world. France’s transformation was
1.5. INFLUENCE OF ENLIGHTENMENT THOUGHT 5
most influential in Europe, and Haiti’s influence spanned across every location that continued to practice slavery. John
E. Baur honors Haiti as home of the most influential Revolution in history.[31]
Jacobin
The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (French: Société des amis de la Constitution), commonly known as
the Jacobin Club (Club des Jacobins, pronounced: [ʒa.kɔ.bɛ̃]), was the most famous and influential political club in
the development of the French Revolution. Initially founded by anti-Royalist deputies from Brittany, the Club grew
into a nationwide republican movement, with a membership estimated at a half million or more.[1] The Jacobin Club
was heterogeneous and included both prominent parliamentary factions of the early 1790s, the radical Mountain and
the more moderate Girondists.
In 1792-3, the Girondists (led by Brissot and including Thomas Paine) dominated the Jacobin Club and led the
country. Believing that revolutionary France would not be accepted by its neighbours, they called for an aggressive
foreign policy and forced war on Austria. The Girondists were the dominant faction when the Jacobins overthrew the
monarchy and created the republic. When the Republic failed to deliver the unrealistic gains that had been expected,
they lost popularity. The Girondists sought to curb fanatical revolutionary violence, and were therefore accused by
the Mountain of being royalist sympathisers. The National Guard eventually switched its support from the Girondists
to the Mountain, allowing the Mountain to stage a coup d'etat.
In May 1793, led by Maximilien de Robespierre, the leaders of the Mountain faction succeeded in sidelining the
Girondist faction and controlled the government until July 1794. Their time in government was characterized by
radically progressive legislation imposed with very high levels of political violence. In June 1793, they approved the
Constitution of Year 1 which introduced universal male suffrage for the first time in history. In September 1793,
twenty-one prominent Girondists were guillotined, beginning the Reign of Terror. In October, during the Terror,
the new constitution was ratified in a referendum which most eligible voters avoided participating in. The Mountain
executed tens of thousands of opponents nationwide, ostensibly to suppress the Vendée insurrection and the Federalist
insurrections, and to prevent any other insurrections, during the War of the First Coalition.
In 1794, the fall of Robespierre pushed the Mountain out of power. The Jacobin Club was closed and many of its
remaining leaders, notably Robespierre, were themselves executed.
Today, Jacobin and Jacobinism are used in a variety of senses. In Britain, where the term “Jacobin” has been linked
primarily to the Mountain, it is sometimes used in Britain as a pejorative for radical, left-wing revolutionary poli-
tics, especially when it exhibits dogmatism and violent repression.[2] In France, “Jacobin” now generally indicates a
supporter of a centralized republican state and strong central government powers[3] and/or supporters of extensive
government intervention to transform society.[4] It is also used in other related senses, indicating proponents of a
state education system which strongly promotes and inculcates civic values, and proponents of a strong nation-state
capable of resisting any undesirable foreign interference.[4]
6
2.1. FOUNDATION 7
The door of the Jacobin Club was in the Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris.
2.1 Foundation
It was so named because of the Dominican convent where they met, which had recently been located in the Rue St.
Jacques (Latin: Jacobus), Paris. The club originated as the Club Breton, formed at Versailles from a group of Breton
representatives attending the Estates General of 1789.[5]
When the Estates-General of 1789 was convened at Versailles, the club was initially composed exclusively of deputies
from Brittany. However, they were soon joined by deputies from other regions throughout France. Among early
members were the dominating comte de Mirabeau, Parisian deputy Abbé Sieyès, Dauphiné deputy Antoine Barnave,
8 CHAPTER 2. JACOBIN
Jérôme Pétion, the Abbé Grégoire, Charles Lameth, Alexandre Lameth, Robespierre, the duc d'Aiguillon, and La
Revellière-Lépeaux. At this time, meetings occurred in secret, and few traces remain concerning what took place or
where the meetings were convened.
2. to work for the establishment and strengthening of the constitution in accordance with the spirit of the preamble
(that is, of respect for legally constituted authority and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen);
and
3. to correspond with other societies of the same kind which should be formed in the realm.
At the same time the rules of order of election were settled, and the constitution of the club determined. There was to
be a president, elected every month, four secretaries, a treasurer, and committees elected to superintend elections and
presentations, the correspondence, and the administration of the club. Any member who by word or action showed
that his principles were contrary to the constitution and the rights of man was to be expelled, a rule which later on
facilitated the “purification” of the society by the expulsion of its more moderate elements. By the 7th article the
club decided to admit as associates similar societies in other parts of France and to maintain with them a regular
correspondence. This last provision was of far-reaching importance. By 10 August 1790 there were already one
hundred and fifty-two affiliated clubs; the attempts at counter-revolution led to a great increase of their number in
the spring of 1791, and by the close of the year the Jacobins had a network of branches all over France. At the peak
there were at least 7,000 chapters throughout France, with a membership estimated at a half-million or more. It was
this widespread yet highly centralised organization that gave to the Jacobin Club its formidable power.[1]
Louis Philippe, a future king of France, liberal aristocrats of the type of the duc d'Aiguillon, the prince de Broglie, or
the vicomte de Noailles, and the bourgeoisie who formed the mass of the members, the club contained such figures
as “Père” Michel Gerard, a peasant proprietor from Tuel-en-Montgermont, in Brittany, whose rough common sense
was admired as the oracle of popular wisdom, and whose countryman’s waistcoat and plaited hair were later on to
become the model for the Jacobin fashion. The club ostensibly supported the monarchy up until the very eve of the
republic; it took no part in the petition of 17 July 1791 for the king’s dethronement, nor had it any official share even
in the insurrections of 10 June and 10 August 1792.[5]
The club was radicalized by the departure of its conservative members to form their own Feuillants Club in July 1791.
This club saw far less success than the Jacobins, surviving barely a year before its members were arrested and tried
for treason.[8]
After the fall of the monarchy Robespierre became a central figure in the Jacobin Club, and his faction in the National
Convention, assembled in the autumn of 1792, became known as Jacobins. They were at first a minority group, also
called "The Mountain" (French: La Montagne), and its members Montagnards, because they sat together in the
higher seats in the Convention’s hall; they were dubious about the war with Austria which had begun that spring, but
supported more revolutionary measures at home.[9]
The Jacobins assumed more and more power during the spring of 1793, with the support of the Parisian mob, which
overawed the Convention, culminating in a coup at the end of May. They were to hold power until the summer of
1794, and they repeatedly purged the Convention of those they held disloyal to the Republic, ending with a widespread
program of execution, the Reign of Terror, in their last months. Robespierre, generally the spokesman for the success-
ful faction, had great esteem for his reputation as “the sea-green incorruptible”, and set up the slogan of the Republic
of Virtue, until the Jacobins’ last purge, 9 Thermidor, 27 July 1794. Although some eyewitnesses said Robespierre
was shot by a soldier, some historians state he attempted suicide; in any event, his lower jaw was shattered. He was
executed the next day on Thermidor 10, 28 July 1794.[10]
The Jacobin club, its leadership having been decimated with Robespierre’s execution, was disbanded 12 November
1794. The Jacobins’ overwhelming power rested on a very slender material basis. The club’s autocracy to that of
the Inquisition, with its system of espionage and denunciations which no one was too illustrious or too humble to
escape.[11] The power of the Jacobins was frequently felt through their influence with the Parisian underclass—the
sans-culottes – who the Jacobins could reliably count on to support them, and to mass ominously in the streets and at
the National Convention when a display of force was considered desirable. Yet at the height of the Terror, the Jacobins
themselves could not command a force of more than 3000 men in Paris. A primary reason for their influence, or
strength, was that, in the midst of the general disorganization in revolutionary Paris and in the provinces, they alone
were organised.
The reason for the actions of the Jacobins proffered by republican writers of later times and some modern scholars
is quite different: that is that France was menaced by civil war within and by a coalition of hostile powers without,
requiring the discipline of the Terror to mold France into a united Republic capable of resisting this double peril.[11]
Engraving “Closing of the Jacobin Club, during the night of 27–28 July 1794, or 9–10 Thermidor, year 2 of the Republic”
Libres, proclaimed the apotheosis of Robespierre and Babeuf, and attacked the Directory as a royauté pentarchique.
But public opinion was now preponderatingly moderate or royalist, and the club was violently attacked in the press and
in the streets. The suspicions of the government were aroused; it had to change its meeting-place from the Tuileries
to the church of the Jacobins (Temple of Peace) in the Rue du Bac, and in August it was suppressed, after barely a
month’s existence. Its members avenged themselves on the Directory by supporting Napoleon Bonaparte.[12]
2.7 Influence
The Jacobin movement encouraged sentiments of patriotism and liberty amongst the populace. The movement’s
contemporaries, such as the King Louis XVI, located the effectiveness of the revolutionary movement not “in the
force and bayonets of soldiers, guns, cannons and shells but by the marks of political power”. [13] Ultimately, the
Jacobins were to control several key political bodies, in particular the Committee of Public Safety and, through it, the
National Convention, which was not only a legislature but also took upon itself executive and judicial functions. The
Jacobins as a political force were seen as “less selfish, more patriotic, and more sympathetic to the Paris Populace.”[14]
This gave them a position of charismatic authority that was effective in generating and harnessing public pressure,
generating and satisfying sans-culotte pleas for personal freedom and social progress.
The Jacobin Club developed into a bureau for French Republicanism and revolutionary purity, and abandoned its
original laissez faire economic views in favor of interventionism. In power, they completed the abolition of feudalism
that had been formally decided 4 August 1789, but had been held in check by a clause requiring compensation for
2.8. LIST OF PRESIDENTS OF THE JACOBIN CLUB 11
• Pierre-Antoine Antonelle
2.11 Citations
[1] Brinton, Crane (2011) [1930]. The Jacobins: An Essay in the New History. Transaction Publishers. p. xix. ISBN
9781412848107. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
[2] Brown, Charles Brockden (2009) [1793–1799]. Barnard, Philip; Shapiro, Stephen, eds. Charles Brockden Brown’s
Wieland, Ormond, Arthur Mervyn, and Edgar Huntly. Hackett Publishing. p. 360. ISBN 9781624662034. Retrieved
17 April 2015.
[3] Rey, Alain, ed. (1992). Dictionnaire historique de la langue française (in French). Dictionnaires Le Robert. ISBN 978-
2321000679.
[4] Furet, François; Ozouf, Mona (2007). Dictionnaire critique de la Révolution française: Idées. Champs (in French). Paris:
Flammarion. p. 243. ISBN 978-2081202955.
[5] Phillips, Walter Alison (1911). “Jacobins, The”. In Chisolm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
[6] Alpaugh, Micah (Fall 2014). “The British Origins of the French Jacobins: Radical Sociability and the Development of
Political Club Networks, 1787–1793”. European History Quarterly 44 (4): 593–619. doi:10.1177/0265691414546456.
Retrieved 17 April 2015. (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries)
[7] “World History: The Modern Era – Username”. Worldhistory.abc-clio.com. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
[9] Stephen J. Lee (2008). Aspects of European History 1789–1980. Routledge. pp. 22–23.
[10] “History – Historic Figures: Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794)". BBC. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
[11] Haydon, Colin; Doyle, William, eds. (2006). Robespierre. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 260–261. ISBN
978-0521026055. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
[12] “Modern History Sourcebook: Maximilien Robespierre: Justification of the Use of Terror”. Internet Modern History
Sourcebook. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
[14] Bosher, John F. (1989). The French Revolution. W. W. Norton. p. 186. ISBN 978-0393959970.
[16] “Robespierre,” by Mazauric, C., in “Dictionnaire historique de la Revolution francaise,” ed. Albert Soboul. Presses Uni-
versitaires de France, Paris: 1989.
2.12. REFERENCES 13
[17] Alger, John Goldworth (1894). Glimpses of the French Revolution: Myths, Ideals, and Realities. Sampson Low, Marston
& Company. p. 144. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
[19] Peter McPhee, ed. (28 September 2012). A Companion to the French Revolution. Wiley. p. 385.
[20] Brinton, Crane (2011) [1930]. The Jacobins: An Essay in the New History. Transaction Publishers. pp. 212–213. ISBN
9781412848107. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
[21] Gottschalk, Louis R. (1929). The Era of the French Revolution (1715–1815). Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 258–259.
[22] Bosher, John F. (1988). The French Revolution. W. W. Norton. pp. 191–208. ISBN 9780393025880.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia
Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
2.12 References
• Schama, Simon (1989). Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-55948-7.
• Brinton, Crane (1930). The Jacobins: An Essay in the New History. Transaction Publishers (published 2011).
• Desan, Suzanne. "'Constitutional Amazons’: Jacobin Women’s Clubs in the French Revolution.” in Re-creating
Authority in Revolutionary France ed. Bryant T. Ragan, Jr., and Elizabeth Williams. (Rutgers UP, 1992).
• Harrison, Paul R. The Jacobin Republic Under Fire: The Federalist Revolt in the French Revolution (2012)
excerpt and text search
• Higonnet, Patrice L.-R. Goodness beyond Virtue: Jacobins during the French Revolution (1998) excerpt and
text search
• Kennedy, Michael A. The Jacobin Clubs in the French Revolution, 1793–1795 (2000)
• Lefebvre, Georges. The French Revolution: From 1793 to 1799 (Vol. 2. Columbia University Press, 1964)
• McPhee, Peter. Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life (Yale University Press, 2012) excerpt and text search
• Palmer, Robert Roswell. Twelve who ruled: the year of the Terror in the French Revolution (1941)
• Jacobin Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobin?oldid=669455528 Contributors: AxelBoldt, The Anome, William Avery, Davi-
dLevinson, Olivier, Michael Hardy, Ixfd64, Bogdangiusca, Zoicon5, Paul-L~enwiki, Wetman, Dimadick, Jmabel, Moondyne, Chancemill,
Nilmerg, Bkonrad, DO'Neil, Ruy Lopez, Alexf, Antandrus, Tothebarricades.tk, Pmanderson, Didactohedron, Lacrimosus, David Sneek,
Ulflarsen, Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, User2004, Ivan Bajlo, Bender235, ESkog, Kaisershatner, Purplefeltangel, Shanes, Bobo192,
Richard Harvey, SemperBlotto, Gary123, Reaverdrop, Fdewaele, Mindmatrix, Bkuschel, SeventyThree, Xiong Chiamiov, Palica, Dysep-
sion, RxS, Rjwilmsi, Tim!, Funnyhat, Eldamorie, Who, Jrtayloriv, TeaDrinker, DVdm, EamonnPKeane, YurikBot, RussBot, Varenius,
Gaius Cornelius, Wiki alf, Rjensen, Botteville, HopeSeekr of xMule, Steve espinola, GraemeL, SmackBot, Mary Hope, Grye, Vald,
The Ronin, Gilliam, Cbh, Baa, Colonies Chris, BrownPigeon, Rrburke, MR JTBacon, New World Man, Echomarq, Radagast83, Derek
R Bullamore, Andrei Stroe, Andrew Dalby, Ohconfucius, Will Beback, SashatoBot, Lambiam, AThing, Microchip08, RandomCritic,
Neddyseagoon, Peyre, Dl2000, Joseph Solis in Australia, RekishiEJ, Tawkerbot2, George100, Jethrobodinejr, Uwesiemon, Wolfdog,
Nunquam Dormio, Bellerophon5685, Lynx6915, JayW, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Manosij.m, Escarbot, Uvaphdman, Azreal, Alphachimpbot,
Myanw, JAnDbot, Ericoides, Arch dude, Rothorpe, Magioladitis, VoABot II, Jpod2, KConWiki, Gomm, Rickterp, Hdt83, Foraminifera,
R'n'B, LittleOldMe old, J.delanoy, Troyeseffigy, Natty4bumpo, NiGHTS into Dreams..., Thechrisbarrstarr, M-le-mot-dit, Brad16all,
VolkovBot, Pparazorback, Philip Trueman, SteveStrummer, Cloudswrest, Suriel1981, TimSheehan, PeterHuntington, Darioist, EmxBot,
QuestingVole, SieBot, Innesboy2, Markdask, Happysailor, Flyer22, Tim Thomason, Hxhbot, Jospehgbriggs, Mygerardromance, DEM-
cAdams, ClueBot, Snigbrook, Arakunem, DragonBot, Excirial, I Enjoy Commenting, JSN2849, Doprendek, Carriearchdale, Mczack26,
WikHead, SilvonenBot, Good Olfactory, Deineka, Addbot, Floatingmacdaddy, M0ntanajack, Asfreeas, Favonian, Tide rolls, Yobot, Frag-
gle81, Anu cool hot, Tempodivalse, AnomieBOT, A More Perfect Onion, Stroganoff, Materialscientist, Quebec99, LilHelpa, Munin75,
Xqbot, RibotBOT, GhalyBot, FrescoBot, Dhtwiki, A little insignificant, BRUTE, Petronius2, Peacedance, Migueletto, Sideways713,
Heidihaha, Wikipelli, Kilopi, Staszek Lem, ChuispastonBot, Terraflorin, Sonicyouth86, Petrb, ClueBot NG, RJFF, Darouet, Plain-
black, TBrandley, The Pikachu Who Dared, Eldlflfk, Cooby1106, BrxBrx, ChrisGualtieri, Sreesarmatvm, Josephk, Lugia2453, Frosty,
Parsedan, AlphaRho, Ketxus, Tango303, Nixin06, Tgifridayschineaseamerican, Nivose, Biblioworm, Harry bindra, Theflawedhistorian,
2.15. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 15
2.15.2 Images
• File:Clôture_de_la_salle_des_Jacobins_1794.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Cl%C3%B4ture_
de_la_salle_des_Jacobins_1794.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: <a data-x-rel='nofollow' class='external text' href='http://gallica.
bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6950721t/'>Bibliothèque nationale de France</a> Original artist: Print by Claude Nicolas Malapeau (1755-1803)
after an etching by Jean Duplessis-Bertaux (1747-1819)
• File:Coat_of_arms_of_Haiti.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Coat_of_arms_of_Haiti.svg License:
Public domain Contributors: Vectorised by Lokal_Profil from Haiti-wappen.png by Myriam Thyes Original artist: Lokal_Profil and
Myriam Thyes
• File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Origi-
nal artist: ?
• File:Dessalines.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Dessalines.jpg License: Public domain Contribu-
tors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Fire_in_Saint-Domingo_1791,_German_copper_engraving.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/
ba/Fire_in_Saint-Domingo_1791%2C_German_copper_engraving.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.brh.org.uk/gallery/
slavery.html Original artist: Unknown
• File:Flag_of_France.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Flag_of_France.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Orig-
inal artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_France_(1790-1794).svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Flag_of_France_%281790-1794%
29.svg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.cyber-flag.net/ Original artist: self-made
• File:Flag_of_Haiti.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Flag_of_Haiti.svg License: Public domain Con-
tributors: Coat of arms from: Coat of arms of Haiti.svg by Lokal_Profil and Myriam Thyes Original artist: (colours and size changes of
the now deletied versions) Madden, Vzb83, Denelson83, Chanheigeorge, Zscout370 and Nightstallion