Introduction Paragraph:
I am a girl who survived the French Revolution, Clementine Amílié. People often call me Clem for short. Being a French girl is not as easy as it looks, because during the Revolution, many horrible things occurred. Nevertheless, I often felt proud of who I am. Please read my Journal Entries to understand more about my French life.
Many things have changed during the French Revolution, which lasted for about 10 years: 1. The people are all free from the monarchy, from the first and second estates. The king had limited power, everything is decided by the leaders that are elected by the people. Also, no one is partying all day long. Everyone is working hard. 2. People now have their own rights (although equality has not completely occurred yet, but close). Males had the right to vote, they owned much more land and much more properties than before. Best of all, taxes and tithes were abolished, and landowners increased rapidly.3. Napoleon made France strong again (or maybe even stronger). He was a general himself, and he trained the boys in the army harshly but patiently. They soon became strong and won many battles under Napoleon’s lead. He also made lives better for poor people, for instance lowering the taxes, giving them 8-hour workdays and 40-hour workweeks, allowing them to take a break during weekends. He was the hero of France!
Meanwhile, there are also continuities during the Revolution: 1. People were still suffering from hunger and famines. While Napoleon and his boys ate well, the poor peasants suffered from hunger and had to steal food to keep their families alive. 2. Until Napoleon’s death, France still hadn’t created a democracy yet. We basically switched a king for an emperor, an absolute monarch to an absolute dictatorship. Both rulers were cruel, and we weren’t really happy with any one of them. 3. Sexism still occurred rapidly. Women still could not vote and did not own as many rights as the males did. Worse of all, they could not even get a proper job like the males do. Some women were guillotined just because they marched, wanting more freedom from males.
