Why Did The Jacobins Protect The American Revolution

Although the Jacobins were initially trying to protect the revolution, over time they became corrupt with power and made decisions against the best interest of the people and the revolution. The Jacobins imposed multiple laws that lead to the murder of thousands of citizens, 85% of which were peasants, whom the revolution was supposed to benefit. Examples of these laws included: “One week from today, those who have not declared their goods shall be considered monopolists, and, as such, punished with death”, and “Those convicted of making false declarations likewise shall be punished with death”. These laws were extremely vague and general, leading to the execution of thousands of citizens who supported the revolution. Additionally, the Law of Suspects, a law meant to protect the leader of the Committee of Public Safety under the pretense of outing people suspected of treason, only furthered the abuse of power by the …show more content…
Under it, the Jacobins arrested anyone who had “shown themselves to be enemies of liberty” which, in essence, meant that they could arrest anyone they wanted simply by claiming they weren’t ‘patriotic’