Comparing Primary Sources: Execution of King

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1. Primary sources present first-hand testimony regarding a topic under investigation and created by witnesses who’ve experienced the events being documented. The priest was in the company of Louis XVI and watched him be guillotined. Jean Paul Marat had direct evidence of the king’s execution and documented it afterwards. 2. During the time of the king’s execution, revolutionaries were for a republic in France and wanted to rid of the monarchy. Marat’s account of the king’s execution put the king in a negative light – calling him a tyrant. Marat supposedly stood up for the people of France, the revolutionaries who wanted change. Marat wrote in a way that change will begin after the king’s execution – “long live the republic”. This is what the revolutionaries wanted to hear. The priest’s account of the execution placed the king in a positive light, as innocent and peaceful. The revolutionaries did not care for the king as they saw him as a tyrant. Thus, the priest’s account was made public after Marat’s account, when the revolution came to an end – when differing opinions from the revolutionaries did not get one guillotined. 3. People didn’t call out against the king simply because they were scared they were next to be guillotined. France had guillotined their own king – there is no doubt they won’t guillotine another “traitor”. The power of Marat’s words and the revolutionaries’ influence on France were too great to speak or act out against – people who weren’t for the revolution were against it. These voices were silent because they were smart enough to know if they’d acted on their thoughts, they’d be guillotined next. 4. The writers’ view of Louis XVI’s execution affect their writing in the way that they’ll write according to their relationship to the king. The priest was a good friend to the king while Marat was against the monarchy and
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