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Napoleon was a man of great power during a time when the French people were finding their
identity. He came into ruling after the high points of the revolution. This revolution was
important because France became a place where the common man had the same rights as
someone of the nobility. Napoleon exemplifies at times that he supports revolutionary ideals. On
the contrary, however, there are examples of decisions he makes that are of the opposite.
Napoleon was born in 1769 into a family that was neither rich nor poor. He won a scholarship
to a famous military academy and excelled there. He joined the military and eventually rose
through the ranks to become the emperor of all France by 1799. One of his first decisions that
supports the common people was to make amends with the Catholic Church. As far as religion
goes, Napoleon was supportive of it from an Enlightenment perspective, thinking that it was a
part of reason and at the least a social convenience. Perhaps Napoleon’s greatest showing of
revolutionary ideals was during the passing of the Civil Code in 1804. It preserved quite a few of
things that the revolutionaries fought for: equality of all citizens, the right for an individual to
choose his profession, religious toleration (right to worship freely), and the abolition of the
feudal system including serfdom. The last major showing of revolutionary support by Napoleon
was the development of a bureaucracy that created jobs based on merit and ability, not social
class. This was something that revolutionaries had hoped for many years.
On the contrary, there were times where Napoleon did not exemplify revolution and
Enlightenment through his actions. He closed French newspapers and banned books. He also
allowed the government mail service to open and read people’s mail. Perhaps the worst offense
by Napoleon is during his army’s invasion of Haiti. They brutally captured Haitian people who
were only suspected of “not having enough zeal for France” who had just invaded their country.
They were locked in the hold of a ship, and the ship was sunk and thus they drowned. This act by
Napoleon was not looked upon favorably and shows a lack of respect for human dignity.
In conclusion, Napoleon made decisions that were supportive of revolutionary ideas, and also
made some that were not so reflective of those ideals. He passed the Civil Code giving ordinary
citizens more rights. He abolished the feudal system and gave middle-class citizens the
opportunity to work in government. However, he made crucial mistakes like his treatment of
Haitians when battling the revolutionaries there. It was times like these where Napoleon showed
that he was flawed as a leader, and may have eventually led to his demise.