Headings: Determine the main idea of each section and write it in each blank line as that section’s title (aka heading). Highlights: Determine what the supporting details are within each section (the supporting details are the evidence that matches the main idea or heading/title of each section.) Highlight these supporting details.

1.
Maximilien Robespierre was a highly educated lawyer who joined the revolutionary government after a brilliant legal career. Elected to the Estates-General in 1789, he became known as a skillful public speaker. His passionate protests against royal absolutism and his demands for reform of French government and society made many enemies. In 1792, Robespierre was elected by the citizens of Paris to head their delegation to the National Assembly. He was also the president of the Jacobin Club, the most extreme of the revolutionary groups. Execution of King Louis XVI and replacement of the monarchy with a republic were two of his strongest demands.

2.Moderates
Foreign armies were not the only enemies of the French Republic. The Jacobins had thousands of enemies within France itself. These included peasants who were horrified by the king’s execution, priests who would not accept government control, and rival leaders who were stirring up rebellion in the provinces. How to contain and control these enemies became a central issue.

3.
In the early months of 1793, Robespierre, slowly gained power. Robespierre and his supporters set out to build a “republic of virtue” by wiping out every trace of France’s past. Firm believers in reason, they changed the calendar, dividing the year into 12 months of 30 days and renaming each month. This calendar had no Sundays because the radicals considered religion old-fashioned and dangerous. They even closed all churches in Paris, and cities and towns all over France soon did the same.

4.
In July 1793, Robespierre became leader of the Committee of Public Safety. For the next year, Robespierre governed France virtually as a dictator, and the period of his rule became known as the Reign of Terror. The Committee of Public Safety’s chief task was to protect the Revolution from its enemies. Under Robespierre’s leadership, the committee often had these “enemies” tried in the morning and guillotined in the afternoon. Robespierre justified his use of terror by suggesting that it helped French citizens to remain true to the ideals of the Revolution.

5.
The Committee believed they had to defend the gains made by the French Revolution by eliminating all those who might oppose or even criticize the government. It was a time of disorder in which the revolution was threatened by a range of military and financial problems. The committee rapidly put into effect policies that stabilized the economy. It began the formation of a successful army to oppose the foreign powers attacking the borders of France. Counter Revolutionary uprisings in the south and west of the country had to be put down.

6.
Thousands of unknown people were also sent to their death, often on the flimsiest of charges. For example, an 18-year-old youth was sentenced to die for cutting down a tree that had been planted as a symbol of liberty. Perhaps as many as 40,000 were executed during the Terror. About 85 percent were peasants or members of the urban poor or middle class—for whose benefit the Revolution had been launched. At their trials, they were given no chance to defend themselves. Their deaths at the guillotine were public spectacles.