Reign of Terror DBQ
1. According to the textbook, why did the Jacobins have so many
enemies?
- Jacobins have a lot of enemies because they decided to kill the
king. They also wanted to be in control of the entire government.
2. Robespierre and his supporters created a new calendar. Why
would they want to wipe out “every trace of France’s past?”
- They wanted to create a whole new France. They wanted to erase
what France used to be and create new rules. A new rule they
created with the calendar was making sure that Sunday was not a
religious day anymore.
3. According to the textbook, Robespierre believed terror helped
French citizens remain “true to the ideals of the Revolution.”
What were the ideals of the French Revolution? (Use what you
already know about the French Revolution to answer this
question).
- The ideals of the revolution were ending the monarchy, creating
equality, and creating freedom. They wanted everyone to have an
equal chance at life and finding success in it. Not only success but
rights, they wanted to feel equal not excluded to everybody
because they did not have money.
4. Based on the textbook excerpt, do you think the Committee of
Public Safety protected the Revolution from its enemies? Highlight
one:
- Yes, I do believe so. It protected the people in the revolution and
the actual Revolution itself for their enemies. It was trying to help
protect the rights of the people so that they could have their needs
meet.
5. Why did the Committee of Public Safety pass the Decree Against
Profiteers?
- The reason they did this was because profiteers were starting to do
outrageous things. One example is that they were making the price
of food higher just because they felt like it.
6. Why did the Committee of Public Safety consider monopoly to be
such a serious crime? (Hint: Think back to the ideals of the French
Revolution).
- It was a very serious crime because it was the opposite of what
they stood for. They believed in equality and liberty which is
against what Monopoly is.
7. What was the punishment for those who did not comply with this
law?
- The punishment for not following the rules set in place was dying.
8. Based on the Decree Against Profiteers, do you think the
Committee of Public Safety protected the Revolution from its
enemies? Highlight one:
- Yes, I do. The DAP was trying to help the Revolution be safe and
protected it from the enemies they had. It helped them protected
the rights of the people involved and it helped keep them safe.
9. What was the goal of the Law of suspects?
- The goal was to make sure that anybody who was going against the
revolution or were trying to limit people's liberties get punished for
their actions. It helped make sure that the people that were going
against them what they deserved.
10. List two examples of people who would have been
considered suspects. Explain why the Committee of Public Safety
would have considered them suspects.
- Two examples of people who work would have been considered
suspects were people with criminal records and people that were
found in crime scenes. The reason why they would be considered
suspects is because they already did something wrong or were
found in a very suspicious position.
11. What might the leaders of the Committee of Public Safety
have said to justify this law?
- The justification that they would use to make it all look good is
that it is to protect people's freedom and to protect them from
people who are trying to do harm to them.
12. Based on the Law of Suspects, do you think the Committee
of Public Safety protected the Revolution from its enemies?
Highlight one:
- Yes, it did. It protected the whole revolution from their enemies
because it helped get rid of people that were going against them. It
did this to make the revolution a lot stronger and to have no
backlash from people that didn't like them.
13. Did the CPS protect the revolution or create enemies for the
revolution?
- I personally believe that it protected the revolution and it helped
enforce it. It created a lot of laws that helped protect the people
fighting for the revolution. It helped create a huge change in
society and expectations that were asked of them. A created a very
high Expectation for people’s morals to be correct or if not, it
would end your life. They were very strict on protecting people's
rights that they once did not have so it was literally a life-or-death
situation.
