Middle-Class Minorities During The French Revolution

The idea of the General Will have been popular ever since the age of the Enlightenment. After all, it is only natural that the common people would support an idea that gives them power. This idea is so immensely popular and powerful that people were able to manipulate others into doing what they want with it. During the French and the Haitian revolution, middle-class minorities such as Robespierre and Toussaint were able to instigate the common people to fight against the order of their world by saying that they were fighting for the right of the majority. In the end, however, the ones who the revolution ultimately empowered were the instigators themselves, not the common people. The French Revolution is commonly thought of as a time when the common people stood up to tyranny and decided to establish a government by the “people” (meaning the majority, not the 2% of elites and nobles) and for good of the people. In the beginning, the revolution was spearheaded by the National Assembly, which was made of a group of wealthy bourgeoisie. They were driven to action by their frustration with the First and …show more content…
The National Assembly wrote a Constitution that lets people vote, but they blocked out the majority of the French people by requiring voters to pay special taxes. On the other hand, Lourverture forced the newly freed slaves back to the plantations and created an absolute monarchy with him as the leader. These two revolutions were fought and won by the blood of the common people, but the ones who benefits the most were still the minorities. The bourgeoisie tightly held the power in their hands, and the majority were once again silenced. Was the revolution truly for the sake of General Will and the good of the common people? The peasants of France and the former slaves of Haiti would without a doubt give us a firm