Editing Reign of Terror (section)

=== Enlightenment thought ===
[[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thought emphasized the importance of [[Rationality|rational thinking]] and began challenging legal and [[Moral foundations theory|moral foundations]] of society, providing the leaders of the Reign of Terror with new ideas about the role and structure of government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Church |first=William F. |title=The Influence of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution |date=1964 |publisher=D. C. Heath and Company |editor-last=Church |editor-first=W. F. |location=Boston |page=vii |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]'s [[The Social Contract|''Social Contract'']] argues that each person was born with rights, and they would come together in forming a government that would then protect those rights. Under the social contract, the government was required to act for the [[general will]], which represented the interests of everyone rather than a few factions.<ref>[[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseau, Jean-Jacques]]. 1901. "[http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf The Social Contract] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170120/http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf |date=6 August 2020}}." pp. 1–126 in ''Ideal Empires and Republics'', edited by Charles M. Andrews. Washington: M. Walter Dunne. p. [http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf#page=112 92] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170120/http://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2039/More_1414_Bk.pdf#page=112 |date=6 August 2020}}–94. [http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/rousseau-ideal-empires-and-republics Available as etext] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027042846/https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/rousseau-ideal-empires-and-republics |date=27 October 2020}} via [[Liberty Fund|Online Library of Liberty]].</ref> Drawing from the idea of a general will, Robespierre felt that the [[French Revolution]] could result in a [[republic]] built for the general will but only once those who fought against this ideal were expelled.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peyre |first=Henri |date=1949 |title=The Influence of Eighteenth Century Ideas on the French Revolution |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=63–87 |doi=10.2307/2707200 |jstor=2707200}}</ref><ref name="sourcebooks.fordham.edu">Halsall, Paul. [1997] 2020. "[https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/robespierre-terror.asp Maximilien Robespierre: Justification of the Use of Terror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813124419/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/robespierre-terror.asp |date=13 August 2021}}." [[Internet Modern History Sourcebook]]. US: [[Fordham University]], Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref> Those who resisted the government were deemed "tyrants" fighting against the virtue and honor of the general will. The leaders felt that their ideal version of government was threatened from the inside and outside of France, and terror was the only way to preserve the dignity of the republic created from French Revolution.<ref name="sourcebooks.fordham.edu" />

The writings of [[Montesquieu|Baron de Montesquieu]], another Enlightenment thinker of the time, also greatly influenced Robespierre. Montesquieu's ''[[The Spirit of Law]]'' defines a core principle of a democratic government: [[virtue]]—described as "the love of laws and of our country."<ref>Hallsal, Paul. [1996] 2020. "[https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/montesquieu-spirit.asp Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws, 1748] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031005225/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/montesquieu-spirit.asp |date=31 October 2018}}." ''[[Internet Modern History Sourcebook]]''. US: [[Fordham University]]. Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref> In Robespierre's speech to the [[National Convention]] on 5 February 1794, he regards virtue as being the "fundamental principle of popular or democratic government."<ref>[[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre, Maximilien]]. [1794] 1970. "[http://courses.washington.edu/hsteu302/Robespierre%20speech.htm Virtue & Terror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806173853/http://courses.washington.edu/hsteu302/Robespierre%20speech.htm |date=6 August 2020}}." pp. 32–49 in ''The Ninth of Thermidor'', edited by R. Bienvenu. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref><ref>"[http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/413 9 Thermidor: The Conspiracy against Robespierre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030210617/http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/413 |date=30 October 2018}}." ''Liberty, Equality, Fraternity''. US: [[Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media]] and American Social History Project.</ref> This was, in fact, the same virtue defined by Montesquieu almost 50 years prior. Robespierre believed the virtue needed for any democratic government was extremely lacking in the French people. As a result, he decided to weed out those he believed could never possess this virtue. The result was a continual push towards Terror. The Convention used this as justification for the course of action to "crush the enemies of the revolution…let the laws be executed…and let liberty be saved."<ref>"[https://www.worldhistorycommons.org/terror-order-day Terror Is the Order of the Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806182526/https://www.worldhistorycommons.org/terror-order-day |date=6 August 2020}}." ''World History Commons''. Retrieved 25 June 2020.</ref>