Reign Of Terror Dbq Essay

Words: 1479
Pages: 6

What’s in a Calendar?
Did you know that more than 40,000 people died during the Reign of Terror (5 September 1793 – 28 July 1794) in the French Revolution? Believe it or not, most of these people died because they opposed the changes made by the National Convention. One major change that the National Convention made during this period was the adoption of a new calendar. Why was a new calendar adopted in revolutionary France during the Reign of Terror? How did the people of France react to it? The French Republican Calendar, developed to reform France after its unsuccessful monarchy, received negative reactions from the majority of the social hierarchy. The main reforms the National Convention wanted to make was to achieve a democracy as well as to make a new religion. The National Convention did this for the benefit of the people; they wanted the people of France to forget about King Louis XVI’s reign over France. However, their idea
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Reforming France after Louis XVI’s monarchy involved making France’s government a democracy. France wanted to break away from its horrid past, and sought a democracy. In Document 2, Gilbert Romme states, “...the equality of day and night occurred in the heavens at the very moment when the people’s representatives proclaimed the moral and civic equality of every Frenchman.” When the people decided to promote equality and democracy, day and night became equal. Gilbert Romme, however, was the head of the calendar reform committee; he was meant to support the calendar and get the people to agree to it. In Document 5, the decree of the National Convention reads, “...at the same time, by its exactness, simplicity, and detachment from every opinion not sanctioned by reason and philosophy, it shows the character