Womens Rights during the French Revolution

Their participation in the revolution and subsequent activities influenced the rights of women from that point onward. Before the revolution, both married and single women had few rights be it political or otherwise. They could not vote or hold office. Basically, they were controlled by men their whole lives in the sense that before marriage, they were under the control of their fathers and after, by their husbands. This meant they had little or no economic independence. Their area was perceived to be that of the private life and sphere of the home and because of this, lacked the time to engage actively in the political sphere. This is not to say, however that women were completely without political rights. Noble women and women in religious orders were allowed small rights like sending their own representatives to the Estate General although compared to the rights that men enjoyed, these were insignificant.

Sexual equality was shunned upon and extremely unpopular especially with the influence of philosophers like Jean-Jaques Rosseau who strongly voiced those women should be left out of politics. Commencement of Feminism in France In the late 1780s, women began realising that even the few traditional rights that they had enjoyed before were being taken away from them. He was a mathematician, philosopher and a member of the National Assembly. He advocated for the rights of equal treatment of women and published many articles of the same. The Marquis of Condorcet did acknowledge the difference between men and women but still argued that biological and educational differences did not make women any less than men. In one of his publications, he stated quite famously on the issue of exclusion of women, “For this exclusion not to be an act of tyranny, one would have to prove that the natural rights of women are not absolutely the same as those of men and show that they’re not capable of exercising them”.

Another one of his statements on the equality of both sexes, he indicated “Either no individual in mankind has true rights or all have the same ones; and whoever votes against the rights of another, whatever be his religion, his colour or his sex has from that moment abjured his rights”. Its basic principle was that all men were born and remain free and equal in rights. Article 1 specified rights pertaining to private property, liberty and resistance to oppression. Article 2 pertained the equality of citizens before the law and the direct or indirect participation in Legislation. Article 6 was about arrest and how no one should be arrested in the absence of a judicial order. Articles 7 and 10 pertained the freedoms of religion and speech.

The poor folk were having a most difficult time feeding their families Following this, the market women spurred a demonstration which intertwined with the activities of the revolutionary women who were seeking reforms. Men later joined them and together, they raided the city armoury (Hotel de Ville in Paris), took weapons and marched 12 miles in the rain to the palace of Versailles while shouting ‘To Versailles’. There, they besieged the palace in a violent manner and found the opportunity to successfully press the king (King Louis XVI) on their demands and concerns. On the very next day, King Louis XVI together with his family and most of his assembly were compelled to return with the people to Paris to see their living conditions.

The king did acknowledge the changes associated with the French Revolution and stopped resisting the liberal reforms. In the 1790s, women began participating in political clubs which were originally attended only by men. They began petitioning the National Assembly for higher education, women marital law and coming up with ideas for revolution. There emerged activists among the women who were relentless in the agitation for full citizenship for women. Among these were Pauline Leone and Therogine de Mericourt. They were fighting to demonstrate the fact that women were denied the political right of active citizenship (1791) and democratic citizenship (1793). Pauline Leone on her part submitted a petition in 6th March 1792 submitted a petition to the national assembly, signed by a total of 319 women requesting a permission to form a national guard to defend Paris in case of military invasion.

She also requested permission to arm women as well as drilling privileges under French Guard but was denied. Leone, together with another feminist known as Claire Lancôme carried out the most radical form of feminism. They founded the Society of Republican Women and their primary goal was to deliberate on the means of frustrating the projects of the enemies of the republic for example the hoarding of grain and other necessities. On 10th May 1793, they went on a rampage of seizing grain, stacking shops, and even as far as kidnaping officials. Pauline Leone and Claire Lancôme were arrested but later on released and had to live with the ridicule from society. Many more women were not so lucky and were executed for conspiracy against the unity and indivisibility of women.

ii) Olympe de Gouges While some women like Therogine Mericourt and Pauline Leone chose to go militant, others chose to publicize, write and organized meetings. Olympe de Gouges was one such woman. Born in 7th May 1748, she was the daughter of a butcher. In September 1791, Olympe de Gouges wrote her most famous work; The Declaration of the Rights of Women and of the Female Citizen. This was based on the earlier document, The Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen of 1789. This important historical document set out the natural, inalienable and sacred rights of women that were the same and equal to that of men. This document touched on various issues including the ownership of property by women, both married and separated, the ‘contract social’ or the social contract based on the earlier work of Jean Jaques Rosseau.

She also encouraged women to recognize their rights. During her trial, the presiding judge denied her the right to representation by an attorney, further showing the oppression of rights of women by men. She represented herself. On 3rd November 1793, Olympe de Gouges was sentenced to death for attempting to reinstate the monarch. She was executes a month later by the guillotine. Despite the execution, her papers and her work were preserved. These included the right to liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression. Olympe de Gouge tells women “Woman, wake up; the tocsin of reason is resounding throughout the universe: acknowledge your rights. ” Article 4 of the declaration states “The only limit to the exercise of the natural rights of woman is the perpetual tyranny that man opposes to it…these limits must be reformed by the laws of nature and reason.

” In essence, it calls for reforms by the laws of a political organization so at to aid in the creation of a just society aimed at protecting the natural rights of everybody Article 6 states “All citizens including women are equally admissible to all public dignities, offices and employments, according to their capacity, and with no other distinction than that of their virtues and talents. ” In Article 10, attention is drawn to the unfair practice of the French law where women were punished to the full extent as men were under the law and yet they were denied equal rights in other areas. In the event of separation, the wealth was to be set aside for any and all children of either party.

The declaration finally provided for the measures that were to be taken to provide for widows and for young girls who were deceived by false promises. This declaration became an important historical document and it laid down the foundation of women’s rights which are used even in the modern world. iii) Madamme Rolland (Jeanne Manon Rolland) This was another important female activist. Her focus was not specifically on women and their right to liberation but she was a feminist all the same by virtue of being a woman who worked to influence the world. These acts by a woman, went on to show the strides that feminism was taking. Apart from this, Madamme Rolland wrote personal letters to leaders of the revolution which influenced policy.

She had various political allies whom she influenced directly to promote her agenda as she could not, herself, directly write policies or carry them through government. She was an apt advocate for furtherance of education among women. Madamme Rolland attributed the lack of education among women to the general public view that women were too weak to be involved in politics. She was outraged on how women left their childhood behind to be married off to men they had absolutely no emotional connection to and found repulsive while their property was transferred over to them and they were left to live their lives in regrets and tears. The Fate and Effect of Feminism During the French Revolution Despite all the advocacy, demonstrations and protests carried out by women during the French revolution, they unfortunately did not achieve what they wanted.

They did not gain the right to vote and many other political and social rights that they were fighting for. They did however managed to greatly expand their political involvement and participation in governing. The Reign of Terror was a major setback on all of the achievements of the women who were advocating for their rights during the revolution. Divorce was another matter that was complicated by the code. Divorce by consent was abolished. It was possible but had a complex nature. Adultery was not a ground for separation if the husband is the perpetrator unless he brought the lover into the marital home. In the case of women committing adultery however, it was a ground of divorce and not only that, but the woman could be jailed and her community property seized as well.