AP Economics: 20 October 2009

Prayer:
Current events:



Congressman Rogers from Michigan explains HR 3200 which is not the same measure passed out of the Senate Finance Committee (the Baucus Bill) recently, but his remarks are nonetheless relevant conceptually and philosophically.

As to S. 1796, it was filed today, although the text has not been released to the public, and it amounts to 1,502 pages.

Charles Krauthammer, a Fox News contributor, remarked on the Baucus bill on 10.8.09:

On the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) scoring of the Baucus health-care bill:

Look, the CBO scoring, the numbers that came in, the blessing it gave — is because of smoke and mirrors in the bill. For the people of Wichita, somebody has to wade into the weeds. I did it at great health risk.

Two items here. One of them is the $120 billion assumed of income from what are called “fees” of the big players in health care — the health insurers, the drug companies, the guys who do diagnostics and who produce the medical equipment.

The fee is a tax, and the tax, $120 billion, is going to end up out of your pocket and mine, because every penny of it will be in higher insurance, higher costs for drugs, for stents — any kind of medical devices — and for diagnostics. Everybody will pay.

But it’s hidden. It is a cowardly way to do a tax. You do it on the industry and it is passed on.

Secondly, there are individual mandates. People are going to be shelling out a huge amount every year on insurance, and those who don’t are going to have to pay a fine, also a tax, but under another name.

There are huge costs in here, which are all hidden, and that’s why it looks OK.

And secondly, there is a $400 billion assumption of cuts in Medicare. That is not going to happen. It is an illusion. It is a fantasy. And that’s why the numbers end up OK.

So if you really look behind all of these numbers, [the Baucus bill] is a disaster.

The Heritage Foundation has also offered a sobering assessment of the financing of the Bill.

Today's lesson plan and HW is available on the blog: http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/

Email: gmsmith@shanahan.org

The Shanawiki page (http://shanawiki.wikispaces.com/) has updated class information.

LibraryThing has bibliographic resources.

I moved the "Blog Archive" to the top right on the blog page so it should be easier to find the daily lesson, HW, and other class material.

Chapter Three, Demand and Supply

Discussion from Friday: Questions for discussion on Shanawiki: Demand: Hybrid Cars
Question: Sales of hybrid cars are on the rise. The Toyota Prius, while priced above comparable gasoline-only cars, is selling well. Other manufacturers are adding hybrids to their lines as well. What has been the cause of the rising sales of hybrids? Is this an increase in demand or an increase in quantity demanded?

Supply: iPods, iTunes, and MP3 players
Question: What has been the impact of the iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players in general
on high-end stereo equipment sales? Has the same impact been at work with CD
music sales since downloading of individual songs was introduced by Apple?

Equilibrium: China and India
Question: As China and India (both with huge populations and rapidly growing
economies) continue to develop, what do you think will happen to their demand for
energy and specifically oil? What will suppliers of oil do in the face of this demand? Will this have an impact on world energy (oil) prices? What sort of policies or events could alter your forecast about the future price of oil?

Extended Examples in the Chapter

Putting Demand and Supply to Work

Both of the following examples use supply and demand analysis as a framework for
predicting how market participants will act, and what the resulting price and output might be.

Excess Grape Supply and Two-Buck Chuck

The great California wine of the 1990s put California wine on the map. Demand,
prices, and exports grew rapidly. Over planting of new grape vines was a result.
Driving along Interstate 5 or Highway 101 north of Los Angeles, grape vineyards
extend for miles as far as the eye can see, and most were planted in the mid to late 1990s. The 2001 recession reduced the demand for California wine, and a rising dollar made imported wine relatively cheaper. The result was a sharp drop in demand for California wine and a huge surplus of grapes. Bronco Wine Company President Fred Franzia made an exclusive deal with Trader Joe’s (an unusual supermarket that features exotic food and wine products), bought the excess grapes at distressed prices, and with his modern plant produced inexpensive wine under the Charles Shaw label. Selling for $1.99 a bottle, Two-Buck Chuck as it is known is available in Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Sauvignon Blanc. Consumers have flocked to Trader Joe’s and literally haul cases of wine out by the carload. Today, Two-Buck Chuck sells well over a million cases a month. This is not rot-gut: the 2002 Shiraz beat out 2,300 other wines to win a double gold medal at the 2004 28th Annual International Eastern Wine Competition.

Two-Buck Chuck was such a hit that other supermarkets were forced to offer their
own discount wines. This good, low-priced wine has had the effect of opening up
markets. As an illustration can be demonstrated, people who previously avoided wine because of the cost have begun drinking more (demand curves do slope down and to the right).

As The Economist has noted, the entire industry may benefit because “Wine
drinkers who start off drinking plonk often graduate to upmarket varieties.”

For more information about this wine and conditions in the wine industry, visit the following Web sites:

From CBS News, a story titled “ ‘Two Buck Chuck’ Wine Cult” points out that it is
the surplus of grapes that makes the wine so inexpensive. On the web at: http://
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/02/eveningnews/main556620.shtml
KTVU.com (from the Bay Area of California) has a story titled “‘Two Buck Chuck’
Changing Wine Habits” which makes the point that “quality does not necessarily follow price.” http://www.ktvu.com/consumer/1954524/detail.html

Trek Bikes and Lance

When Lance Armstrong won his seventh Tour de France cycling championship in
July, 2005, he rode a bicycle made by Trek of the United States.2 So on the demand
side, we can expect demand for the victor’s brand of bicycles to go up. This in fact happened, in both the United States and Europe. On the supply side, U.S. bicycle manufacturers such as Trek and Cannondale were willing to increase output as shown in Figure 15 (note that the supply curve didn’t change, only quantity supplied).

This process worked well in the U.S. but proved tougher in Europe, not so
much in the actual production of the bicycles but in getting stores to stock them. Up to a few years ago, racing bicycles were almost exclusively made by European companies.

___
1 “California Drinking,” The Economist, June 7th, 2003, p. 56.
2 See Ian Austen, “U.S. Bike Makers Seek Dominance in Europe,” The New York Times,
December 30, 2003, p. W1.

The Market for Bicycles

Using our supply and demand analysis, we see that demand increased. Since no
determinant of supply changed, we know that just output will increase, and prices
for Trek bicycles will rise. Our supply and demand analysis gives us a useful framework for predicting how market participants will act, and what the resulting price and output might be.

For More Information

In an article titled “Trek Bicycle Coup: Tour de Force” in Baseline (on the web at
http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1397,1618016,00.asp), the author details the
technology used in making the bikes, as well as providing data on prices and quantities.

The phrase “limitless tolerance on price” is a good introduction to the topic
of elasticity (to be covered in an upcoming chapter).

Examples Used in the End-of-Chapter Questions

Question 10 discusses the market for virtual goods. Based on Rob Walker, “The
Buying Game: A real market, overseen by a real corporation selling things that don’t really exist,” (The New York Times Magazine, October 16, 2005, p. 28), the question asks students to consider the markets for goods used in on-line games such as EverQuest II. This example encourages students to see that markets “really” exist even in “virtual” worlds.

For a further demonstration, visit the homepage of Second Life (at http://secondlife.com/) and see how much in U.S. dollars has been spent…in just 24 hours!

Question 11 is based on a Wall Street Journal story by Peter Sanders and Stephanie
Kang, (“Wipeout for Key Player in Surfboard Industry,” The Wall Street Journal,
December 8, 2005, p.B1) that discusses the closing of Clark Foam. The key point of
the example is that the firm was a manufacturer of a critical input needed to make
surfboards. It provides a good illustration about how a change in price and availability of a resource carries over into product markets.

For another story and some good visuals, see the page on the web at http://www.
transworldsnowboarding.com/twbiz/features/article/0,21214,1138359,00.htm.

Question 12 examines the effect of increased demand in the market for polysilicon,
used in making solar panels. It is based on the story by John Carey, “What’s Raining on Solar’s Parade” (Business Week, February 6, 2006, p. 78). The key point for discussion here is the impact of uncertainty, which is another way to talk about the role of expectations on demand and supply.

For more about the dynamics of the polysilicon market, see the story from IndustrialControl Designline on the web at http://www.industrialcontroldesignline.com/
showArticle.jhtml?printableArticle=true&articleId=163701891.

Question 13 provides a good example of how synthetic substitute products can be
developed when “natural” products become scarce. Based on the story by James
Altucher, “Supply, demand and edible orchids” (The Financial Times, September
20, 2005, p.12), it presents students with a data set, requires them to graph and analyze the data, and then illustrate the effects of changes in demand and supply.
Particular attention is given to the idea that even as supply is changing, demand may also be changing (in this case, due to the development of a synthetic).

Did you know that vanilla is the most labor-intensive agricultural product in the
world? You can find out just about everything there is to know about vanilla on the web at http://www.vanilla.com/html/facts-faq.html.

For Further Analysis

The Supply and Demand Effects of the Increased Use of Ethanol

Handout 3-1 is an in-class group exercise with your small group.

Students are asked to draw graphs illustrating shifts in demand and supply
and changes in quantity demanded and supplied. Asking students to document
research about specifics in this topic (for example, changes in planted acreage).

Learning objectives: application of concepts of changes in quantity demanded
and quantity supplied versus changes in demand and supply; demonstration of mastery of graphing techniques; and reinforcement of critical thinking skills.

Web-based Exercise

What’s Been Driving Gasoline Prices?

This example can be used as an in-class group exercise.

Asking students to perform (and document) additional research allows you
to use it as a case study or group project as well. For example, students can be
asked to document gasoline sales to see if, as predicted, an increase in demand
results in both a higher price and a greater quantity sold.

Learning objectives: application of concepts of changes in quantity demanded
and quantity supplied versus changes in demand and supply; demonstration of mastery of graphing techniques; and reinforcement of critical thinking skills.

The Supply and Demand Effects of the Increased Use of Ethanol

Draw a supply and demand graph showing the market for corn in equilibrium. Label the demand curve as “DOld” and the supply curve as “S”. Then illustrate the effect of an increased demand for corn due to its being used to produce ethanol. Explain the changes in price and equilibrium quantity using the vocabulary of “changes in quantity demanded,” and “changes in quantity supplied,” as well as “change in demand” and “change in supply.”

Use a supply and demand graph to illustrate and explain the impact of a higher price of corn on any one of a wide variety of food products; be sure to include the effect on the cost of high-fructose corn syrup.

Send HW in email to gmsmith@shanahan.org for this exercise.

Define the following terms:
1. Change in demand
2. Change in quantity demanded
3. Supply
4. Law of Supply
5. Supply curve
6. Determinants of supply
7. Change in supply
8. Change in quantity supplied
9. Surplus
10. Shortage

WH II: 20 October 2009

Prayer

Current events:

The questioner in the clip, Phelim McAleer, who asked a question from Al Gore, has recently released a documentary on global warming.

A trailer from "Not Evil Just Wrong," (The Movie Al Gore Doesn’t Want You To See) premiered on 18 October 2009.

Lord Christopher Monckton, former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, provides a significant commentary against the concept of global warming and the credible threat of any significant anthropomorphic climate change. He is concerned not only about climate change but the loss of popular sovereignty in the U.S. as illustrated in the Copenhagen Treaty.

An excerpt and a draft of the Copenhagen Treaty is available at www.wattsupwiththat.com.

The key question for history is not global warming; the point to consider is the surrendering of popular sovereignty. If the U.S. agrees to the Copenhagen Treaty, it is largely expected to harm the American economy and it will not bind the largest carbon emitting polluting nation on the planet, Communist China, to the same expectations.

Although, China is demanding advanced U.S. technology and funding, expected to be estimated at $250 billion a year, before Copenhagen. The U.S. is in a weak position by being in debt to China and the Communists are asking for solid assets as collateral in their negotiations.

During the last set of negotiations, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, China also agreed to no demands on its pollution and has continued to emit enormous amounts of carbon based emissions. India and the developing countries face no obligations under the Kyoto pact as it stands.

The chief U.S. negotiator sent by Obama, Todd Stern, was quoted as stating that the U.S. was not demanding that China accept mandatory emissions targets. “We don’t expect China to take a national cap at this stage,” (in the expectation that Congress will enact a cap and trade bill on American productivity) Stern said.

The House has already passed the Waxman-Markey (Cap and Trade) bill. This legislation calls for an 83% reduction in greenhouse gasses from 2005 levels by 2050. That means almost complete elimination of carbon based fuels, and parallels the goals identified by the Copenhagen Treaty. Such reductions would essentially bring our economy to a screeching halt, as Monckton maintains.

China, India, and other developing countries say targets (such as cap and trade) would constrain their economic growth, and their first priority is to fight poverty.

The U.S. is expected to unilaterally agree to lower American productivity.

Yet, since the science of global warming has good opinion on both sides. I would think that Congress would want to hear evidence from both sides, both Gore's and Monckton's. Monckton wanted to testify when Al Gore is scheduled to speak at a Congressional hearing but he has been barred from testimony. Monckton's testimony will not be heard, only Gore's voice will be heard. There will be a one-sided presentation about global warming before Congress: Gore's.

British High Court Justice Michael Burton characterized Gore's film as "alarmism and exaggeration in support of his political thesis." The court, responding to a case filed by a parent, said the film was "one-sided" and could not be shown in British schools unless it contained guidelines to balance Gore's attempt at "political indoctrination." The Court noted the nine errors of Gore.

Cf. More Than 700 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims

What happened to global warming?

Media Ignore Al Gore’s Financial Ties to Global Warming

For additional background a 22-minute documentary entitled “Climate Chains” is available.

Today's lesson plan and HW is available on the blog: http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/

Email: gmsmith@shanahan.org

The Shanawiki page (http://shanawiki.wikispaces.com/) has updated class information.

The online version of a portion of the Textbook is available.

LibraryThing has bibliographic resources.

I moved the "Blog Archive" to the top right on the blog page so it should be easier to find the daily lesson, HW, and other class material.

Sr. has advised students to check online teaching materials (as we have been doing since the first day of school).

Chapter 11 (newer edition Ch. 18): The French Revolution and Napoleon, 1789–1815

Ch. 11 Section 1 The French Revolution Begins

National Debt Soars

Louis XIV had left France deeply in debt. The Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution strained the treasury even further. Costs generally had risen in the 1700s, and the lavish court soaked up millions. To bridge the gap between income and expenses, the government borrowed more and more money. By 1789, half of the government’s income from taxes went to paying the interest on this enormous debt. Also, in the late 1780s, bad harvests sent food prices soaring and brought hunger to poorer peasants and city dwellers.

To solve the financial crisis, the government would have to increase taxes, reduce expenses, or both. However, the nobles and clergy fiercely resisted any attempt to end their exemption from taxes.

Economic Reform Fails

The heirs of Louis XIV were not the right men to solve the economic crisis that afflicted France. Louis XV, who ruled from 1715 to 1774, pursued pleasure before serious business and ran up more debts. Louis XVI was well-meaning but weak and indecisive. He did, however, wisely choose Jacques Necker, a financial expert, as an advisor. Necker urged the king to reduce extravagant court spending, reform government, and abolish burdensome tariffs on internal trade. When Necker proposed taxing the First and Second Estates, however, the nobles and high clergy forced the king to dismiss him.

As the crisis deepened, the pressure for reform mounted. The wealthy and powerful classes demanded, however, that the king summon the Estates-General, the legislative body consisting of representatives of the three estates, before making any changes. A French king had not called the Estates-General for 175 years, fearing that nobles would use it to recover the feudal powers they had lost under absolute rule. To reform-minded nobles, the Estates-General seemed to offer a chance of carrying out changes like those that had come with the Glorious Revolution in England. They hoped that they could bring the absolute monarch under the control of the nobles and guarantee their own privileges.

Primary Source

Poorer peasants and city dwellers in France were faced with great hunger as bad harvests sent food prices soaring. People began to riot to demand bread. In the countryside, peasants began to attack the manor houses of the nobles. Arthur Young, an English visitor to France, witnessed these riots and disturbances.

Why did the poor attack the nobles’ homes?

Primary Source

“Everything conspires to render the present period in France critical: the [lack] of bread is terrible: accounts arrive every moment from the provinces of riots and disturbances, and calling in the military, to preserve the peace of the markets.”

—Arthur Young, Travels in France During the Years 1787, 1788, 1789

Checkpoint

What economic troubles did France face in 1789, and how did they lead to further unrest?

Reading Check
Identifying
What groups were part of the Third Estate?

From Estates-General to National Assembly
As 1788 came to a close, France tottered on the verge of bankruptcy. Bread riots were spreading, and nobles, fearful of taxes, were denouncing royal tyranny. A baffled Louis XVI finally summoned the Estates-General to meet at Versailles the following year.

Estates Prepare Grievance Notebooks

In preparation, Louis had all three estates prepare cahiers (kah yayz), or notebooks, listing their grievances. Many cahiers called for reforms such as fairer taxes, freedom of the press, or regular meetings of the Estates-General. In one town, shoemakers denounced regulations that made leather so expensive they could not afford to make shoes. Servant girls in the city of Toulouse demanded the right to leave service when they wanted and that “after a girl has served her master for many years, she receive some reward for her service.”

The cahiers testified to boiling class resentments. One called tax collectors “bloodsuckers of the nation who drink the tears of the unfortunate from goblets of gold.” Another one of the cahiers condemned the courts of nobles as “vampires pumping the last drop of blood” from the people. Another complained that “20 million must live on half the wealth of France while the clergy . . . devour the other half.”

The Oath Is Taken

Delegates of the Third Estate declared themselves to be the National Assembly, representing the people of France. They took the Tennis Court Oath, vowing to create a constitution. The National Assembly later issues the assignat as currency to help pay the government’s debts.

What was the significance of the Tennis Court Oath?

Delegates Take the Tennis Court Oath

Delegates to the Estates-General from the Third Estate were elected, though only propertied men could vote. Thus, the delegates were mostly lawyers, middle-class officials, and writers. They were familiar with the writings of Voltaire, Rousseau, and other philosophes. They went to Versailles not only to solve the financial crisis but also to insist on reform.

The Estates-General convened in May 1789. From the start, the delegates were deadlocked over the issue of voting. Traditionally, each estate had met and voted separately. Each group had one vote. Under this system, the First and Second Estates always outvoted the Third Estate two to one. This time, the Third Estate wanted all three estates to meet in a single body, with votes counted “by head.”

After weeks of stalemate, delegates of the Third Estate took a daring step. in June 1789, claiming to represent the people of France, they declared themselves to be the National Assembly. A few days later, the National Assembly found its meeting hall locked and guarded. Fearing that the king planned to dismiss them, the delegates moved to a nearby indoor tennis court. As curious spectators looked on, the delegates took their famous Tennis Court Oath. They swore “never to separate and to meet wherever the circumstances might require until we have established a sound and just constitution.”

When reform-minded clergy and nobles joined the Assembly, Louis XVI grudgingly accepted it. But royal troops gathered around Paris, and rumors spread that the king planned to dissolve the Assembly.

Parisians storm the Bastille on July 14, 1789.

Checkpoint

What actions did delegates of the Third Estate take when the Estates-General met in 1789?

Reading Check
Examining
Why did the Third Estate object to each estate's having one vote in the Estates-General?

The Destruction of the Old Regime

Declaration of the Rights of Man

In late August, as a first step toward writing a constitution, the Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. The document was modeled in part on the American Declaration of Independence, written 13 years earlier. All men, the French declaration announced, were “born and remain free and equal in rights.” They enjoyed natural rights to “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” Like the writings of Locke and the philosophes, the constitution insisted that governments exist to protect the natural rights of citizens.

The National Assembly issued this document in 1789 after having overthrown the established government in the early stages of the French Revolution. The document was modeled in part on the English Bill of Rights and on the American Declaration of Independence. The basic principles of the French declaration were those that inspired the revolution, such as the freedom and equality of all male citizens before the law. The Articles below identify additional principles.

Therefore the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:

1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.

2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. . . .

4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else. . . .

5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. . . .

6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its formation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents.

7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. . . .

11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom. . . .

13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of the public [military] forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.

Thinking Critically

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

1. Summarize

Summarize article 6. Why is this article especially significant?

2. Identify Central Issues

What central idea does this declaration share with the American Declaration of Independence?

The King Concedes (Cf. http://www.librarything.com/work/4250524/book/34672675).

On October 5, about six thousand women marched 13 miles in the pouring rain from Paris to Versailles. “Bread!” they shouted. They demanded to see the king.

Much of the crowd’s anger was directed at the Austrian-born queen, One of the most interesting characters of the period is "Marie Antoinette," sometimes referred to as the Teen Queen, not to be confused with later teen queens. Marie Antoinette (daughter of Maria Theresa and brother of Joseph II). The queen lived a life of great pleasure and extravagance, and this led to further public unrest. Although compassionate to the poor, her small acts went largely unnoticed because her lifestyle overshadowed them. She was against reforms and bored with the French court. She often retreated to the Petit Trianon, a small chateau on the palace grounds at Versailles where she lived her own life of amusement.

The women refused to leave Versailles until the king met their most important demand—to return to Paris. Not too happily, the king agreed. The next morning, the crowd, with the king and his family in tow, set out for the city. At the head of the procession rode women perched on the barrels of seized cannons. They told bewildered spectators that they were bringing Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their son back to Paris. “Now we won’t have to go so far when we want to see our king,” they sang. Crowds along the way cheered the king, who now wore the tricolor. In Paris, the royal family moved into the Tuileries (twee luh reez) palace. For the next three years, Louis was a virtual prisoner.

Church Reforms

The National Assembly soon followed the king to Paris. Its largely bourgeois members worked to draft a constitution and to solve the continuing financial crisis. To pay off the huge government debt—much of it owed to the bourgeoisie—the Assembly voted to take over and sell Church lands.

In an even more radical move, the National Assembly put the French Catholic Church under state control. Under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, issued in 1790, bishops and priests became elected, salaried officials. The Civil Constitution ended papal authority over the French Church and dissolved convents and monasteries.

Reaction was swift and angry. Many bishops and priests refused to accept the Civil Constitution. The pope condemned it. Large numbers of French peasants, who were conservative concerning religion, also rejected the changes. When the government punished clergy who refused to support the Civil Constitution, a huge gulf opened between revolutionaries in Paris and the peasantry in the provinces.

A New Constitution and New Fears

The National Assembly completed its main task by producing a constitution. The Constitution of 1791 set up a limited monarchy in place of the absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries. A new Legislative Assembly had the power to make laws, collect taxes, and decide on issues of war and peace. Lawmakers would be elected by tax-paying male citizens over age 25.

To make government more efficient, the constitution replaced the old provinces with 83 departments of roughly equal size. It abolished the old provincial courts, and it reformed laws.

To moderate reformers, the Constitution of 1791 seemed to complete the revolution. Reflecting Enlightenment goals, it ensured equality before the law for all male citizens and ended Church interference in government. At the same time, it put power in the hands of men with the means and leisure to serve in government.

Reading Check
Evaluating
What was the significance of the Constitution of 1791?

War with Austria

The radicals soon held the upper hand in the Legislative Assembly. In April 1792, the war of words between French revolutionaries and European monarchs moved onto the battlefield. Eager to spread the revolution and destroy tyranny abroad, the Legislative Assembly declared war first on Austria and then on Prussia, Britain, and other states. The great powers expected to win an easy victory against France, a land divided by revolution. In fact, however, the fighting that began in 1792 lasted on and off until 1815.

Rise of the Paris Commune

Paris, too, was in turmoil. As the capital and chief city of France, it was the revolutionary center. A variety of factions, or dissenting groups of people, competed to gain power. Moderates looked to the Marquis de Lafayette, the aristocratic “hero of two worlds” who fought alongside George Washington in the American Revolution. Lafayette headed the National Guard, a largely middle-class militia organized in response to the arrival of royal troops in Paris. The Guard was the first group to don the tricolor—a red, white, and blue badge that was eventually adopted as the national flag of France.

A more radical group, the Paris Commune, replaced the royalist government of the city. It could mobilize whole neighborhoods for protests or violent action to further the revolution. Newspapers and political clubs—many even more radical than the Commune—blossomed everywhere. Some demanded an end to the monarchy and spread scandalous stories about the royal family and members of the court.



Preview

Section 2 Radical Revolution and Reaction

The Sans-Culottes
by Albert Soboul

HW: email me at gmsmith@shanahan.org.

Thinking Critically

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

1. Summarize

Summarize article 6. Why is this article especially significant?

2. Identify Central Issues

What central idea does this declaration share with the American Declaration of Independence?

Excerpt from a Draft of the Copenhagen Treaty

A summary of the Treaty is included here:

38. The scheme for the new institutional arrangement under the Convention will be based on three basic pillars: government; facilitative mechanism; and financial mechanism, and the basic organization of which will include the following:

World Government (heading added)
(a) The government will be ruled by the COP with the support of a new subsidiary body on adaptation, and of an Executive Board responsible for the management of the new funds and the related facilitative processes and bodies. The current Convention secretariat will operate as such, as appropriate.

To Redistribute Wealth (heading added)
b) The Convention’s financial mechanism will include a multilateral climate change fund including five windows: (a) an Adaptation window, (b) a Compensation window, to address loss and damage from climate change impacts [read: the "climate debt"], including insurance, rehabilitation and compensatory components, © a Technology window; (d) a Mitigation window; and (e) a REDD window, to support a multi-phases process for positive forest incentives relating to REDD actions.

With Enforcement Authority (heading added)
© The Convention’s facilitative mechanism will include: (a) work programmes for adaptation and mitigation; (b) a long-term REDD process; © a short-term technology action plan; (d) an expert group on adaptation established by the subsidiary body on adaptation, and expert groups on mitigation, technologies and on monitoring, reporting and verification; and (e) an international registry for the monitoring, reporting and verification of compliance of emission reduction commitments, and the transfer of technical and financial resources from developed countries to developing countries. The secretariat will provide technical and administrative support, including a new centre for information exchange [read; enforcement].