Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

“Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” is known as the single most powerful French Revolution motto

ever expressed for the politics of democracy. To understand how the revolution embodies this motto,

each word has to be considered individually. Out of the three words that represents the French

Revolution motto, liberty and equality symbolizes the ideas of the revolution; fraternity was not

recognized for all people.

“Liberty” represented the independence from an ineffective king and feudalism, and symbolized

what the people were fighting for. The revolution stripped the old regime and privileged class of certain

honors, and the old government was replaced. To quote Lynn Hunt, “Kings could not rule without

assemblies, and noble domination of public affairs only provoked more revolution.”1 Meaning kings

could not rule without the people’s support, and the nobles control over the peoples activities could be

met with resistance. With political independence, the National Assembly was able to do away with

feudalism and shift into capitalism.

In the French Revolution motto, “Equality” represents gaining basic equal rights that applied to

all, and doing away with the nobility and estate classes which was personified by the revolution. When

the three estates could not agree on a solution to the taxation issue, the largest estates “which

consisted of the general French public” broke off talks and declared themselves the sovereign National

Assembly.2 They went on to write a constitution called the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen,

which made every person in France equal in theory. The people’s actions represented the fight they had

to endure to become equal with the other two estates and be seen as one nation.

“Fraternity” represents a slogan that the French civilians used but did not recognize for all

people. The slogan was supposed to be for the citizens of France as a whole, not just the middle class

who were revolting. But, not all people were included. The National Assembly officially disallowed
women, stating, “Women, along with children and foreigners, in the category of passive, as opposed to

active, citizens.”3 With this distinction “passive citizens,” they were not entitled to all the rights of a true

citizen, which included the right to vote.4 Even when women organized and formed the Society of

Republican Revolutionary Women, they were turned down because they did not have “the moral and

physical qualities” to be involved in politics.5

The Revolution did embody these concepts for the most part, and it is now part of the French

national heritage. Liberty of the people came when feudalism was done away with in lieu of capitalism.

Equality was suggested when the general French public sovereign National Assembly wrote the

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Fraternity was not achieved for all civilians of France:

women, children, and foreigners were considered a sub-category.

Bibliography:

1. Hunt, Lynn A. Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution.

http://lib.spranceana.com/lynn-hunt-politics-culture-and-class-in-the-french-revolution-

138.html. 1984. Accessed February 26, 2016.

2. Hunt

3. Wallerstein, Immanuel. "Is Another World Really Possible? The Slogans Of The French Revolution."

Rozenberg Publishers. Http://rozenbergquarterly.com/is-another-world-really-possible-the-

slogans-of-the-french-revolution-reconsidered/. 2008. Accessed February 26, 2016.

4. Hunt

5. Wallerstein