Today in History: Bastille Day & the French Revolution

Vue brillante de l'aniversaire du 14 juillet 1801

Today in History–July 14–TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus features Bastille Day, which commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in Paris, France on July 14, 1789. This action marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Find out more about these events by investigating a variety of primary and secondary sources linked to below.

News from France following the storming of Bastille, including the King’s Speech of July 16 Gazette of the United-States. (New-York [N.Y.]), 30 Sept. 1789

U.S. historical newspaper coverage of Bastille Day

Bastille Day images

Fete nationale de la France. 1789 – 14 Juillet – 1881 Grande fete Champetre! broadside

U.S. legislation commemorating Bastille Day

Bastille image set

La Prise de la Bastille 1893 book

“Bastille Day” Is About More Than the Bastille In Custodia Legis July 14, 2020

Opera Goes to the Bastille In the Muse blog July 14, 2011

Touring French History through Political Cartoons Picture This blog July 14, 2014

French Revolution image set

Sheet music related to the French Revolution

U.S. historical newspaper coverage relating to the French Revolution 1789-1800

Books about the French Revolution

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (George Mason University) and American Social History Project (City University of New York)

French Revolution Digital Archive Stanford University Libraries and the Bibliothèque nationale de France

The United States and the French Revolution, 1789–1799 U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian

Thomas Jefferson during the French Revolution online exhibition

The Bicycle and the Bastille In the Muse July 14, 2010

World Spotlight: France primary & secondary sources