Jacques Pierre Brissot (15 January 1754 – 31 October 1793), who assumed the name of de Warville, was a leading member of the Girondist movement during the French Revolution. Some sources give his name as Jean Pierre Brissot.

Biography

Brissot was born at Chartres, where his father was an inn-keeper. He received an education, and entered the office of a lawyer at Paris. He married Félicité Dupont (1759-1818), who translated English works, including Oliver Goldsmith and Robert Dodsley. They lived in London, and had three children. His first works, Théorie des lois criminelles (1781) and Bibliothèque philosophique du législateur (1782), dealt with philosophy of law topics, and showed the deep influence of ethical precepts theoretised by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In the preface of Théorie des lois criminelles, Brissot explains that he submitted an outline of the book to Voltaire and quotes his answer from April 13, 1778.

Brissot became known as a writer, and was engaged on the Mercure de France, on the Courrier de l'Europe, and on other papers. Devoted to the cause of humanity, he proposed a plan for the collaboration of all European intellectuals, and started in London a paper, Journal du Lycée de Londres, which was to be the organ of their views. The plan was unsuccessful, and soon after his return to Paris Brissot was placed in the Bastille on the charge of having published a work against the government.

He obtained his release after four months, and again devoted himself to pamphleteering, but was forced to retire for a time to London. On this second visit he became acquainted with some of the leading Abolitionists, and founded later in Paris an anti-slavery group Society of the Friends of the Blacks, of which he was president during 1790 and 1791. As an agent of this society he paid a visit to the United States in 1788, and subsequently published in 1791 his Nouveau Voyage dans les États-Unis de l'Amérique septentrionale (3 vols.). Brissot believed that American ideals could help improve French government. He was fond of their foreign polices. At one point he was interested in uprooting his whole family to America.

From the outbreak of the Revolution in 1789, Brissot became one of its most vocal supporters. He edited the Patriote français from 1789 to 1793, and took a prominent part in politics. Upon the demolition of the Bastille, the keys to the fortress were presented to him. Famous for his speeches at the Jacobin Club, he was elected a member of the municipality of Paris, then of the Legislative Assembly, and later of the National Convention.

French Foreign Policy

At the time of the Declaration of Pillnitz, Brissot headed the Legislative Assembly: the declaration was from Austria and Prussia warning the people of France not to harm Louis XVI or they would "militarily intervene" in the politics Of France. Brissot then declared war on Austria and Prussia.

During the Legislative Assembly, Brissot's knowledge of foreign affairs enabled him as member of the diplomatic committee practically directing the foreign policy of France, and the declaration of war against Leopold II and the Habsburg Monarchy on 20 April 1792, and that against the Kingdom of Great Britain on 1 February 1793, were largely due to him. It was also Brissot who gave these wars the character of revolutionary propaganda. He was in many ways the leading spirit of the Girondists, who were also known as Brissotins.

Arrest and execution

The Encyclopedia Britannica 11th edition, remarked that: "Of the Girondists, Vergniaud was the better orator, but Brissot was quick, eager, impetuous, and a man of wide knowledge. However, he was indecisive, and not qualified to struggle against the fierce energies roused by the events of the Revolution".

His party fell before the Montagnard faction. Sentence of arrest was passed against the leading members of it on 2 June 1793; Brissot attempted to escape in disguise, but was arrested at Moulins. Brissot was very worried that they were going to kill him, so he fled with others. He was found without a passport, along with many other members of the Girondin. After a trial during which his demeanour was quiet and dignified, Brissot and several other Girondists were guillotined in Paris.

Police Spy Accusations

One aspect of Brissot’s career that was under intense scrutiny and question, was his life after the Bastille. The leading accusations were lead by Jean-Paul Marat, Camille Desmoulins, Maximilian Robespierre, and have recently been backed up by the historian, Robert Darnton. They accused Brissot of being a Police Spy; saying that he was plotting against the revolution, he had once stood behind. Brissot was sent to court to defend himself on many occasions from these accusations. Darnton argues that Brissot on a personal level, was not in support of the Revolution, and had gone to a police station where he asked if he could be of assistance. When he was turned away, Darnton says, he proceeded to give them information. The only problem with his accusations, argues historian Fredrick Luna, is that that the letters in which Darnton got his information were written fifteen years after the supposed incident. Luna argues that this could not have been the case; Brissot was noted as leaving Paris as soon as he was released from the Bastille. So if he was not in Paris, he would not have talked with the police.

Legacy

Brissot was one of the writers who have exerted the most influence on the success of the French Revolution, or at least have the most accelerated its movement. His early works on legislation, his many pamphlets, speeches in the Legislative Assembly and the Convention, demonstrated dedication to the principles of the French Revolution.