Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the details, ideas and motivations behind the Bourgeois phase of the French Revolution, the basic structure and points both the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the liberal French Constitution of 1791, and how the bourgeois phase collapsed due to a disastrous war program and the rise of radicals who were determined to “cleanse” France and to remake society from top to bottom.

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources including excerpts from contemporary accounts on both sides of the conflict, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the importance of the Battle of Tours (732 CE), how the Frankish army at Tours under Charles Martel was able to stand its ground against overwhelming Muslim forces, and how the battle set the stage for the eventual re-conquest of all of Western Europe by Christians in the centuries to come.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, including excerpts from the Franco American Alliance (1778), students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basic terms of the 1778 alliance between France and the United States, how and why an absolutist French government under Louis XVI that was diametrically opposed to republican principals decided to support the American colonial cause against his arch rival Britain, and how the alliance was the deciding factor in a colonial victory over Britain and thus how the alliance undoubtedly helped cause the downfall of the Ancient Regime in France itself.

Through an examination of both primary and secondary sources on the subject, including various types of visual media in addition to electronic and written sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain French absolutism and the divine right theory as it developed under Louis XVI, how he used his power to subjugate the Roman Catholic Church in France, and how he turned the Palace at Versailles into one of the largest and grandest royal palaces in the world.

Students in this lesson will analyze and understand the basic story behind Voltaire’s satire by reading Candide (1759). In doing such analysis, students will also gain an appreciation and understanding of how Voltaire challenged the French government, the French system of taxation and social ideas behind wealth, and the Roman Catholic Church. Finally students will understand and be able to explain how a little bizarre story about a simple dim-witted character later inspired French Revolutionary leaders to topple the entire system.