CITIZEN CAPET FACES HIS NATION Louis cannot be judged he has already been judged He has been condemned or else the republic is not blameless To suggest putting Louis XVI on trial in whatever way is a step ID: 438767
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Slide1
The Trial of the king
CITIZEN CAPET FACES HIS NATIONSlide2
"Louis cannot be judged, he has already been judged. He has been condemned, or else the republic is not blameless. To suggest putting Louis XVI on trial, in whatever way, is a step
backwards;
it is a counter-revolutionary idea; because it puts the Revolution itself in the dock. After all, if Louis can still be put on trial, Louis can be acquitted; he might be innocent. Or rather, he is presumed to be until found guilty.” -Robespierre
Lawyers, judges, and a kingSlide3
Trial prep– 35 minutes
Prosecution and Defense Lawyers:
Take 3-4 BEST pieces of evidence and turn them into questions for the other side to answer Write your questions on the side board and decide who will ask it, and who will respond to the questions, and howWrite ~ ½ Page opening statement that introduces your argument and why the king should/should not be found guilty
Judges:Discuss each of the “Surprise Exhibits” and put them in order of most interesting/important to least
Discuss when each piece of evidence could be introduced
Read over the list of
indictments
(charges)
against Louis – which three are the most severe?
King:
Write a speech to
hopefully
save your life – you will deliver this at the end of the trialSlide4
Trial procedures
Prosecution opening statement
Defense opening statementProsecution Question #1 and Defense Response
Defense Question #1 and Prosecution ResponseProsecution Question #2 and Defense Response…
Defense Question #3 and Prosecution Response
Verdict
JUDGES: At any time you can ask other questions or use your evidence to support/attack someone’s pointSlide5Slide6Slide7Slide8Slide9Slide10Slide11
THE VERDICT
Everyone should write down the following four verdicts and
HIGHLIGHT/CIRCLE the one that they believe (out of role):1. Louis was guilty of treason, and deserves to die2. Louis was guilty of treason, but does not deserve to die.
3. Louis was not guilty of treason, but should no longer be King.4. Louis was not guilty of treason and should be made King again.Slide12
The death of a king
The Final Hours of the French MonarchySlide13
The Verdict
Louis’ fate determined by a vote on THREE questions…
1 – Guilty or Not Guilty All 693 Votes = Yes2 – Should there be a
referendum to decide his fate?284 = Yes, 409 =
No
3 – What should the punishment be?
321 = Prison/Exile, 372 =
Execution
The King will be executed on 1/21/1793Slide14
Preparations…
200 mounted guards and 1,200 foot
soldiers will surround Louis’s coach and escort him to guillotine80,000 armed men in Paris to prevent problemsLouis XVI’s Preparations…Meet with his family6am Mass
Note to his servant ClerySlide15Slide16
Instructions to clery
“
Will you give this seal to my son…the wedding ring to the Queen. Tell her that I leave her with a great deal of pain…
This little package contains locks
of hair of all my family. Give
it to
her too. Tell the Queen, tell my
dear children
, that I had promised to
see them
this morning, but that I
had wanted
to spare them the pain of
such a
cruel separation.”Slide17
The execution
10:00 – Louis XVI reaches the guillotine…..
10:22 – The King is dead!Soon after – Body taken to cemetery in wicker basket and buried in a wooden casket, in a mass grave.France quickly at war with all monarchies in EuropeAfter 800+ Years, Louis’s family (and French Kings) lose powerSlide18
One view of execution
“His
blood flows; cries of joy from 80,000 armed men rend the air. His blood flows and there are people who dip a fingertip, a quill, a scrap of paper in it. One tastes it: ‘It is vilely salt!’ An executioner at the scaffold side sells small bundles of his hair; people buy the ribbon that tied it. Everyone carries off a small bundle of his clothing or some other bloodstained
remnant…The whole populace go by, arm in arm, laughing and talking as if from some festivity. The taverns on the bloody square had their wine bottles emptied as usual. They sold cakes and patties around the beheaded body, which was put in the wicker basket of a common criminal.”Slide19
Differing View…
“Louis XVI lost his life on Monday at half past ten in the morning
, and to the very last he maintained the greatest possible courage. He wished to speak to the people from the scaffold, but was seized by the executioners, who were following their orders
, and who pushed him straight under the fatal blade. He was able to speak only these words: ‘I forgive my enemies; I trust that
my death
will be for the happiness of my people, but I grieve
for France
and I fear that she may suffer the anger of the Lord.
’ The
King took of his coat himself at the foot of
the scaffold
, and when someone sought to help him he said cheerfully
, ‘
I do not need any help.’ He also refused help to climb onto
the scaffold
, and went up with a firm, brisk
step. After
his death his body and head were immediately
taken to
the parish cemetery and thrown into a pit fifteen feet deep
, where
they were consumed by quicklime. And so there
remains nothing
of this unhappy prince except the memory of his
virtues and
his misfortune.”Slide20
Final words…
“He (Louis) pronounced
these unforgettable words: ‘I die innocent of all the crimes with which I am charged. I forgive
those that are guilty of my death, and I pray to God that
the blood you are
about to
shed will never
be required
of France.’…
The king’s
last words
were drowned
out by
the drummers
…”Slide21
The terror –
“Softness
to traitors will destroy us all."*After the execution of the King, the Revolution entered “The Terror”
*12-Man Committee of Public Safety *~40,000 people executed across France
*85% of executed were 3
rd
Estate – Why?
The Suspension of
Civil Liberties-
*
Law of Suspects
– “suspected
persons, ... those who, either by their conduct or their relationships, by their remarks or by their writing, are shown to be partisans of tyranny and federalism and enemies of
liberty”
*
Law of Evidence
– “
"if material or
moral
proof exists, independently of the evidence of witnesses, the latter will not be heard, unless this formality should appear necessary, either to discover accomplices or for other important reasons concerning the public interest
.“Slide22
The “National Razor”
“The National Assembly, considering that humanity requires that the death penalty be as painless as possible decrees that decapitation is carried out according to the approved method of the guillotine.”
Equality of executionSlide23
“As the guillotine was always ready 15 minutes before the arrival of the victim, many assistants would dance around and do impressions to entertain the crowd. But the highlight was the amputation of heads, which, severed by the blade of the guillotine, fell speedily on top of one another into a kind of basin where they were floated in blood, which splashed as the heads dropped and flooded the pavement.”Slide24Slide25Slide26
Jacobins v. girondists
“We must suspend free speech and liberty
so we can win the war. Otherwise, therewill be nothing left to defend”
-The Jacobins, Robespierre
“We must preserve the ideals of free
speech and liberty at all costs. Otherwise
the Revolution is not worth fighting for
”
-
The
Girondists
, Madame RolandSlide27
Georges Danton
“We Must Dare,
and again dare, and forever dare.”
He was known for his
ugliness – he had been
twice gorged by a bull, and
trampled over by a herd of
pigs as a child.
Jean
-Paul Marat
“God has always been hard
on the poor”.
He was known as “The
Toad” due to his ugliness.
Suffered from a rare disease
that left his skin peeling off in
lumps.Slide28
Maximilien
Robespierre
“Every Revolution eats its
children”
He was a talented lawyer
with amazing energy,
dedication and intelligence,
but with a streak of absolute
ruthlessness.
Louis Saint-Just
“Keep cool and you
command everybody”
He was a young law student
who robbed his parents and
ran away to Paris, where he
befriended Robespierre.Slide29
Reading Questions
Read through the “Reign of Terror” reading and answer questions 1-6
DO NOT ANSWER #7Slide30
Robespierre…
“Robespierre is extremely touchy and suspicious” (
mayor of Paris 1791)“The bastard isn’t satisfied with being the boss, he’s
got to be God as well” (a sans-culottes)“Robespierre was bred a butcher..” (from the
London Times)
“…
dictatorship..he
believed was the only way to stop
the spread
of evil.” (Bertrand
Barere
1832, he sat on
the Committee
with Robespierre
)
“a depraved monster of small talent.” (a
government enquiry)
“..physically repulsive..
humourless
” (British
newspaper, 1987)
He had been the equal of emperors and kings…he was
the most
hateful character in history” (Lord Acton,
British historian
, 1890s)
“Any
institution which does not suppose the people good, and the magistrate corruptible, is evil
.”
“Virtue
without terror is fatal; terror without virtue is impotent. The terror is nothing but justice, prompt, severe, inflexible; it is thus an emanation of virtue
.”
“Citizens
, did you want a revolution without revolution
?”
“By
sealing our work with our blood, we may see at least the bright dawn of universal happiness
.”
“We must smother the internal and external enemies of the Republic or perish with it; now in this situation, the first maxim of your policy ought to be to lead the people by reason and the people's enemies by terror
.”
“
“..in a revolution the state is at war, it
doesn’t have to follow all the laws
.””Slide31Slide32
“The
proof necessary to convict the enemies of the people is every kind of evidence, either material or moral or verbal or written. . . . Every citizen has the right to seize conspirators and counter-revolutionaries and to arraign them before magistrates. He is required to denounce them when he knows of them
.”