Goals & Objectives
Students will learn the causes, outcomes, and events of the French Revolution as well as the subsequent development of France. Students will explain how the ideology of the French Revolution led the development of France from constitutional monarchy to democratic despotism and to the Napoleonic Empire.
California State Content and Common Core Standards
California State Content:
10.2 Students compare and contrast the Glorious Revolution of England, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution and their enduring effects worldwide on the political expectations for self-government and individual liberty.
10.2.4 Explain how the ideology of the French Revolution led France to develop from constitutional monarchy to democratic despotism to the Napoleonic Empire.
Common Core:
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
10.2 Students compare and contrast the Glorious Revolution of England, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution and their enduring effects worldwide on the political expectations for self-government and individual liberty.
10.2.4 Explain how the ideology of the French Revolution led France to develop from constitutional monarchy to democratic despotism to the Napoleonic Empire.
Common Core:
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
Lesson Introduction
Students will be given the following quotes about the French Revolution:
“Peoples do not judge in the same way as courts of law; they do not hand down sentences, they throw thunderbolts; they do not condemn kings, they drop them back into the void; and this justice is worth just as much as that of the courts.” Maximilien Robespierre
“Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death; - the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!” Charles Dickens-A Tale of Two Cities
The students will then be asked to brainstorm on the role of violence in the pursuit of rights and whether violence is justifiable if the outcome is rights for the disenfranchised. Once students are done brainstorming the students will break into groups and discuss their ideas.
“Peoples do not judge in the same way as courts of law; they do not hand down sentences, they throw thunderbolts; they do not condemn kings, they drop them back into the void; and this justice is worth just as much as that of the courts.” Maximilien Robespierre
“Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death; - the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!” Charles Dickens-A Tale of Two Cities
The students will then be asked to brainstorm on the role of violence in the pursuit of rights and whether violence is justifiable if the outcome is rights for the disenfranchised. Once students are done brainstorming the students will break into groups and discuss their ideas.
Vocabulary
The vocabulary will be found during the body of the lesson as students will be able to use their textbooks which define the key terms in the text.
Key Terms:
Ancien Regime
King Louis XVI
Marie Antoinette
The First Estate
The Second Estate
The Third Estate
Bourgeoisie
Sans culottes
The Bastille
Reign of Terror
Key Terms:
Ancien Regime
King Louis XVI
Marie Antoinette
The First Estate
The Second Estate
The Third Estate
Bourgeoisie
Sans culottes
The Bastille
Reign of Terror
Content Delivery
The lesson will begin with the students reading the sections of their textbooks on the French Revolution and the Republic that followed stopping at the point when Napoleon gains power. This will set up the students with the necessary prior knowledge to participate in the activity presented below. The students will create a timeline in order to have information ready and in chronological order.
Student Engagement
After reading the necessary textbook sections and creating their timelines the students will be split into three groups with each group representing one of the three estates of France. The activity will consist of the three estates arguing either for or against giving more rights to the common man based on how their estate acted during the actual Revolution. To do this activity each group, or estate, will choose five students to act as spokespeople for their estate. Before arguing their points each estate will work as a group to come up with their talking points and evidence for their argument as well as rebuttals to any counterarguments the other estates may have. Once the deliberation starts each estate will present their argument along with their evidence on why rights should or should not be given. After each estate has presented their argument the other estates will be given the chance to give counterarguments with the estate being questioned allowed to give rebuttals. In order to keep the deliberation civil only one estate will be allowed to speak at one time and no one will be allowed to interrupt someone speaking. Some questions asked to get the students on the right track will be:
What rights should be allowed to the common man?
What action will be taken if the other estates got their way?
Will your estate use violence to get their way?
Why are rights either necessary or not for your estate? Why?
What rights should be allowed to the common man?
What action will be taken if the other estates got their way?
Will your estate use violence to get their way?
Why are rights either necessary or not for your estate? Why?
Lesson Closure
Students will be asked to do a quick write where they imagine themselves as a French peasant and to write about how they would feel if they were to have their rights taken away and what they would do to get them back. They would also be asked whether they would have supported the French Revolution and why?
Assessment
Formative- As the students participate in the deliberation the teacher will observe them as they form their arguments and counterarguments in their estates to assess their critical-thinking skills.
Summative- The teacher will examine the students’ quick write at the lesson closure to see if they have understood the roles ideology and violence played in the transformation of France.
Summative- The teacher will examine the students’ quick write at the lesson closure to see if they have understood the roles ideology and violence played in the transformation of France.
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with Special Needs
To accommodate for these students the teacher will try to put students into groups with other students who speak the same primary language and will ensure that these students are not one of the spokespeople for their estate unless the student has volunteered for the position. The teacher will also provide extra vocabulary definitions of more common English words and phrases for the reading portion involving the textbook.