"The sole function of a civil society is morality! ... Immorality is the basis of despotism, as virtue is the essence of the Republic."
                                                    -- Robespierre (Rudé, George. Robespierre: Portrait of a Revolutionary Democrat. New York: Viking Press, 1975.)

Basic rights

            From the first day Maximilien Robespierre addressed the National Assembly, he insisted that sovereignty belonged to the people and their natural rights must be restored to them.  The Constitution of 1791 was no longer applicable due to the changing hands of power.  So in order to restore man's rights, Robespierre wanted the new constitution to address:
  "the happiness of men and consequently the conservation of their rights, of their security, of their liberty, of their property"
                                                --Robespierre (Jordan, David. The Revolutionary Career of Maximilien Robespierre. New York: The Free Press, 1985.)
            Central to Robespierre's thought was the creation of a republic with a republican citizen.  To achieve this he felt it was necessary to implement education, enlightenment, and control of public administration and officials.  Robespierre believed his connection with the people is precisely what certified his authority:
                  "I am the people myself."
                                                  --Robespierre (same cite as above)

        In addition, Robespierre's economic ideals were thoroughly subordinated to political and moral ideals.  He had a great distrust of excessive wealth and he was angry at economic exploitation.  He condemned the monopolists as having a homicidal hand, preventing the common man to "enjoy the fruits of the earth that are necessary to their existence." (same cite as above)  Robespierre dreamed of an egalitarian republic that would rid society of the speculators who took rights away from the common man.  His Republic was a system whose objective was to realize the equality which must be both democratic and socially egalitarian.  Robespierre also came to adopt the principle that neither birth nor wealth should measure a man's talents or rights. He felt this ideology was fundamental in a democracy.  Lastly, Robespierre believed that the main purpose of the Revolution was to create a republic of socially independent citizens with rights of personal freedom, political equality, and the pursuit of happiness.  With the French Revolution at a stand-still, Robespierre asserted, shortly before his arrest, that the revolution was "the first ever based on the rights of man and the principles of justice" and had been corrupted by a series of conspirators.
 Quote From: Thompson, J.M. Robespierre and the French Revolution. London: English Universities Press LTD, 1972.

Property

        Robespierre shared Rousseau's view that private property was the root of social inequality.  Robespierre felt the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, drafted by the National Assembly, was made for capitalists and speculators because it did not define the nature and legitimacy of man's freedom of property.  As a result, Robespierre proposed to add four articles in the Preamble that declared, defined, and legitimized man's exercise of property.  Robespierre had a deep respect for property and the values and virtues associated with it.  Consequently, his preamble addition addressed the importance of man's respect to property.  He also addressed the role and need of government to act as the protector of a man's property.  Robespierre visualized the ideal citizen as a man who owned enough property to support his family and exchange his goods for that of his neighbors.  This ideal man, Robespierre believed, showed personal independence, initiative, labor, and frugality.
 

The Declaration of Rights of Man	A woman leading a child to the Declaration of Rights of Man

Virtue

        Robespierre defined virtue as that which contributes to the public good.  He defined almost all of his actions and decisions associated with the Revolution as to progressing the virtue of the Republic.  A virtuous man could express his virtue in patriotism.  In the midst of the Revolution, Robespierre felt that hypocrites wore a mask of virtue.  Concerning the Republic and his thoughts on virtue Robespierre stated,
                "The soul of the Republic is virtue, that is to say love of country, the magnanimous devotion that sees all private interests in the general interest." (Jordan, David. The Revolutionary Career of Maximilien Robespierre. New York: The Free Press, 1985.)
Robespierre emphatically believed that the government must embody virtue and morality, which can only come from the people's will.
 
 

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