Class 9 History Chapter 1 HOTS Questions - The French Revolution

Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) Questions

• The Broken Chain: Chains were used to fetter slaves. A broken chain stands for the act of becoming free.
• The bundle of rods or fasces: One rod can be easily broken, but not an entire bundle. It conveys the idea that strength lies in unity.
• Scepter: Symbol of royal power.
• The Phrygian cap: This cap was worn by a slave upon becoming free.
• Blue-White-Red: The national colours of France.
• The winged woman: Personification of the law.
• The Law Tablet: The law is the same for all and all are equal before it.
• The eye within a triangle radiating light: The all seeing eye stands for knowledge. The rays of the sun will drive away the clouds of ignorance.
• Snake biting its tail to from a ring: Symbol of Eternity. A ring has neither beginning nor end.

Q2: Describe the political activities of French women during the revolutionary years.

Describe what women in post-revolution France did to voice their interests. To what extent were they successful?
Ans:

• The Constitution of 1791 disappointed women as they were stripped of voting rights, making them passive citizens.
• To combat this, women initiated their political clubs and newspapers to advocate for their rights.
• Approximately sixty women's clubs emerged across various French cities, with The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women being the most renowned.
• Their primary demand was equal political rights for women, including the right to vote, stand for election, and hold political positions.
• Initially, the revolutionary government enacted laws benefiting women, such as establishing state schools and mandating girls' education.
• Marriage was redefined as a voluntary contract under civil law, with legal divorce accessible to both genders.
• Women were now permitted to pursue professions, engage in artistic endeavors, and manage small businesses.
• However, their quest for voting rights endured for over a century until they achieved suffrage in 1946.

Q3: What was the role of the philosophers in the French Revolution?

Describe the role of the philosophers in the French Revolution.
Ans: 

• French philosophers such as John Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu were instrumental in shaping the background of the revolution in France.
• They advocated for a society where social status was based on merit rather than birth privilege, inspiring the people of France with revolutionary ideas and encouraging them to stand against injustices.
• John Locke, in his work "Two Treatises of Government," challenged the belief in the divine and absolute right of the monarch.
• Rousseau expanded on these ideas, proposing a government structure founded on a social contract between the people and their representatives.
• Montesquieu, in "The Spirit of the Laws," suggested a separation of powers within the government - legislative, executive, and judiciary.
• The ideas of these philosophers were widely circulated in salons, coffee houses, books, and newspapers, sometimes being read aloud to those who couldn't read.
• News of the king's plans to levy additional taxes sparked anger and protests against the existing system of privileges.

Value-based Questions (VBQs)

• Rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, equality before law were established as natural and inalienable rights.
• These rights belonged to each human being by birth and could not be taken away. It was the duty of the state to protect each citizen’s natural rights.
• The law had the right to forbid only actions that were injurious to society.
• Liberty consisted of the power to do whatever was not injurious to others.
• The source of all sovereignty resided in the nation; no group or individual might exercise authority that did not come from the people.
• Law was the expression of the general will. All citizens were equal before it.

Q5: Mention the salient features of the Constitution of 1791.
Ans: The National Assembly completed the draft of the Constitution in 1791. The salient features of this Constitution were:

• It limited the powers of the monarch. These powers instead of being concentrated in the hands of one person, were now separated and assigned to different institutions—the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. This made France a constitutional monarchy.
• The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the National Assembly, which was indirectly elected. That is, citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly. Not all citizens had the right to vote. Only wealthy men above 25 years of age were given the status of active citizens, that is, they were entitled to vote. The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens without right to vote.
• The new constitution adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, equality before law, were established as natural rights, that is, they belonged to each human being by birth and could not be taken away.

Q7: In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. What values are reflected through this proposal?
Ans: The values reflected through this proposal are:

• When power is shared between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary, there is least chance of dominance of one institution over the other.
• Montesquieu’s arrangement refuted the doctrine of the divine and absolute rights of the monarch.
• He advocated that no group in society should be privileged by birth.
• There should be equality in every sphere. Montesquieu also stressed on individual freedom because it was necessary for the growth of individual’s personality.