HIST 1003 Chapter : Watershed
Document Summary
Most of the founding fathers were deists: god created the world but is not actively involved in it: natural law is god"s law. The french revolution is proclaimed by most historians to be a watershed: metaphor from geology: the dividing point that separates two draining areas, the world before this event is strikingly different than the world after this event. The french revolution set the scene for modern politics-- **theme*: wrote the agenda for political action, the key ideas raised (liberty, equality, and fraternity) became a political struggle. Socio-economic crisis: long-term economic crisis, caused by population growth, 1780s saw bad weather and bad harvests, 1789: vagabonds are frequent. Financial crisis: 1786: controller-general told king the french state was on the brink of bankruptcy. Formation of the national assembly: **june 17, 1789*: after 5 weeks of fighting over voting, they (3rd estate) walked out and declared themselves a national assembly, representatives of the nation.
