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the female militia was strikingly radical because it would include the women having the right to bear arms. This right that was closely associated with full citizenship, and had hardly ever been considered appropriate or necessary for women. Although the militia Léon wanted was never formed, many French women still fought how they could in the conflicts associated with the French
Revolution. Léon, along with her friend
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A statement Léon wrote while imprisoned in
Luxembourg on 4 July 1794 has also survived. In it, she highlighted her personal involvement in the Revolution and her recruitment of many others to the revolutionary cause. She made pointed mention of her hatred toward Lafayette and confirmed the rumor that
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One of her surviving writings is her "Petition to the
National Assembly on Women's Rights to Bear Arms," which she presented on 6 March 1791. The petition asserted that the new French Constitution was for women as well as men, meaning that they required the arms necessary to defend it. She promised
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On 6 March 1791 she addressed the
Legislative Assembly on behalf of Parisian women, calling for the creation of an all-female militia so that women could protect their own homes from counter-revolutionary assaults. More than 300 Parisian women had signed the petition she was presenting. Her idea of
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Léon was born to chocolate makers Pierre-Paul Léon and
Mathurine Telohan in Paris on 28 September 1768. She was one of six children. When her father died in 1784, Léon began helping her mother with the chocolate business in exchange for room and board. She was also responsible for helping to raise
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generated political excitement and sometimes violent unrest. Witnessing this unrest stirred Léon to action, and she became a radical for the revolutionary cause. In 1789 at the beginning of the
Revolution, she joined in the famous
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that French women still held dear their roles as wives and mothers, and that their possession of the right to bear arms would not detract from this. The petition concluded with a declaration of female French patriotism.
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The
Revolution was a time of great debate concerning the status and right of women from all social classes. The entire governmental structure was in question, and men all over France were exploring the ideas of
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Léon's political involvement in the
Revolution is especially noteworthy because she came from the Parisian artisan class, while most other politically involved women of her day were aristocratic.
178:. In these unique circumstances, many French women seized the opportunity to call into question the rights of women as well, and what constituted their proper place in society. While people like
136:, even carrying her own pike. A couple years later, in 1791, she again joined a passionate political crowd and risked her life by signing the Cordeliers' republican petition at the
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Although Léon was very active in the public sphere, either she did not write much, or not many of her writings have been preserved. The following are a couple of exceptions:
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After her release from prison, Léon began to pull herself out of the political scene, focusing her efforts on her household and her occupation as a schoolteacher.
421:
Sutherland, D.M.G. (2016). "Lafayette in the French
Revolution: From the October Days through the Federation by Louis Gottschalk, Margaret Maddox (review)".
175:
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Throughout Léon's life, she became entrenched in the politics of the
Revolution. She affiliated herself with radical anti-royalist groups such as the
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and the Cordeliers club. Her statement concluded with an assertion that she and her husband were innocent and did nothing to merit an arrest.
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as a dangerous organization that opposed proper womanhood. At its height, however, the Society's meetings were attended by up to 200 people.
537:"Olympe de Gouges, The Declaration of the Rights of Woman (September 1791) · LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION"
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Being a part of those groups fueled her revolutionary spirit, and she stood with them even when it landed her in prison for several months.
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101:, where Leclerc had been serving as a soldier. Because they had committed no major crimes, they were released three months later after
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90:, who fought violently for the creation of a French direct democracy. The two were married in 1793 when Pauline was 29 years old.
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661:"Society of Revolutionary Republican Women (Société des républicaines révolutionnaires) (1793) | Towards Emancipation?"
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was brief, however, because it lasted only eight months. It was shut down by authorities because it was judged by both
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fought to pioneer women's rights. Léon observed this and became passionately involved in this emerging feminist cause.
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210:) and became its president on 9 July 1793. In that same year, she also served as a prominent leader of the
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A sign in France recognizing Pauline Léon as the founder of the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women
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she once broke into a man's home to throw a bust of Lafayette out the window. She wrote highly of the
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Her political leanings were no secret. For years, Léon openly protested against all of the following:
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As was mentioned above, Léon's official political loyalties were with the Cordeliers Club and the
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issued a warrant for their arrest. They were arrested together but held separately in a prison in
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van Slyke, Gretchen (Spring 1997). "Women at War: Skirting the Issue in the French Revolution".
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In April of the next year, because of their radical revolutionary acts, the
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22:(28 September 1768 – 5 October 1838) was an influential woman during the
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26:. She played an important role in the Revolution, driven by her strong
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worked to create a limited domestic image of womanhood, others like
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Liberty: The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France
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Léon died at age 70 at home in Bourbon-Vendée on 5 October 1838.
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16:
French feminist activist and revolutionary politician (1768–1838)
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Deviant Women of the French Revolution and the Rise of Feminism
598:"Recent Historiography on the French Revolution and Gender"
512:"Avalon Project - Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789"
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and support her siblings until the time of her marriage.
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The Other Enlightenment: How French Women Became Modern
155:, and anyone who was openly a counter-revolutionary.
566:. Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
42:), and she also served as a prominent leader of the
468:Transatlantic Feminisms in the Age of Revolutions
268:"Femininity as well as fraternity in France 1789"
30:and anti-royalist beliefs. Along with her friend
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649:. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
371:"Lucy Parsons, Claire Lacombe and Pauline Leon"
296:. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
82:It was through these affiliations that she met
647:The Women of Paris and Their French Revolution
309:"Théophile Leclerc: An Anti-Jacobin Terrorist"
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358:. New Jersey: Humanities Press International.
689:. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.
485:. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
294:The Family On Trial In Revolutionary France
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208:Société des Républicaines-Révolutionnaires
40:Société des Républicaines-Révolutionnaires
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204:Society of Revolutionary Republican Women
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470:. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
442:"Women Rule – How They Took Down a King"
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356:The Left and the French Revolution
325:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1971.tb01515.x
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596:Desan, Suzanne (1 January 2019).
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123:The Storming of the Bastille
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440:Bouché, Elizabeth Larkin.
602:Journal of Social History
562:Beckstrand, Lisa (2013).
500:. New York: Harper Press.
446:Political Animal Magazine
400:Women in European History
134:Storming of the Bastille
466:Moore, Lisa L. (2011).
354:Slavin, Morris (1995).
307:Slavin, Morris (1971).
292:Desan, Suzanne (2006).
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685:Darline, Levy (1980).
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481:Hesse, Carla (2001).
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180:Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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496:Moore, Lucy (2006).
665:hist259.web.unc.edu
541:revolution.chnm.org
516:avalon.law.yale.edu
615:10.1093/jsh/shy079
585:– via JSTOR.
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