Several groups of people did not join the Jacobin Club. Among these were artisans, shoemakers, servants, and small shopkeepers. There were many reasons why these people didn’t join the Jacobin Club. Here are some of them: Girondists, Montagnards, and Cordeliers.
Girondists
The Jacobin Club was the party of the Jacobins. The Girondists, however, were not a part of it. Instead, they were an intellectual group that was loyal to the revolution and strove to make it successful. In April 1792, the Girondins began a revolutionary war, hoping to preempt foreign aggression and win public support. They also wanted to militarize the revolution, and to establish a national government elected by the people. Despite their lack of membership in the Jacobin Club, the Girondists were still active, though their numbers were smaller than the Jacobins. Moreover, they distrusted the radicalism of the Jacobin Club and its members. They thought that certain sections were exerting too much political influence, and that the sans culottes were disorganised.
Rather than joining the Jacobin Club, the Girondists were the Radicals in the Legislative Assembly and the Conservatives in the Convention. They also suffered the fate of being arrested in mid-career, and the people interpreted their attitude as proof of corruption. In addition to this, they resisted Buzot’s attempt to transfer the Convention to Versailles.
Although the Girondists did not join the club, they were very close to the Montagnards. The Montagnards were more radical than the Girondins and had close ties to the sans-culottes, a working class force in Paris. These men supported a strong legislative branch and a weak executive branch. The Jacobin Club remained the most influential political organization in France until the early nineteenth century.
Montagnards
The Jacobin club was an institution that promoted national liberty. Members of the club were encouraged to express their ideas and beliefs in public. They gathered together to hear speakers debate the merits of price controls, democratic voting, and national sovereignty. They also criticized the Church and the corrupt Ancien Regime.
Initially, the Jacobins were made up of primarily of anti-royalist deputies from Brittany. They met in Paris and were initially known as the Breton Club. They were also primarily middle-class, with many members having gained experience in local politics during the Revolution. The Jacobins considered themselves the guardians of the Revolution. Eventually, the Jacobin club became inclusive of members outside Paris.
The Jacobins proclaimed the emancipation of Jews, the abolition of the death penalty, and the removal of the monarch’s veto. Their actions fueled the nationalist uprising, which led to a Revolution. This was a time when many people were feeling enraged and determined to overthrow the monarchy.
Cordeliers
The Cordeliers club was a center for democratic radicalism in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. During the Terror of 1793-4, they supported the government, although some of their leaders were killed and imprisoned for their critical views of the Convention. When the Terror ended, they suffered the same persecution as the Jacobins. The club’s symbol was an open eye on a mountaintop. The club’s motto, “Freedom is the first and last human rights,” expressed the club’s universalist outlook. The open eye was also the emblem of the club’s copper tokens.
Despite the fact that the club was not officially affiliated with the Jacobin movement, it played a significant role in the insurrection. Its influence on the movement was non-negligible, and its position was further solidified over the winter of 1792-1793. In this period, the Jacobins clashed with the Enrages and the Cordelier club’s influence was greatly increased. The club gained national stature by the end of the 31 May and gathered several institutions around it, including popular societies.
The Jacobin club initially was dominated by conservative, moderate, and Christian aristocrats. As time went on, however, the club began to include liberal aristocrats, as well as the bourgeoisie. One of its most famous members, “Pere” Michel Gerard, a peasant owner from Tuel-en-Montgermont, Brittany, became a leading figure in the Jacobin movement, which spawned an entirely different style of waistcoat. Later, the club also split into provincial branches, which were more democratic than the original king’s club. Some members of the bourgeoisie and educated classes led the provincial branches.