WH 9.3 The Rise of Napoleon and the Napoleon Wars: P1 (Sourcing)

Ch. 9: The French Revolution and Napoleon







Lesson 3: The Rise of Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars

Historical Skill: Sourcing

Let's revisit Napoleon's expedition to Egypt...

He was sent with an army to Egypt, but why?

In napoleon's own words...

*remember that France is at war with Great Britain (England) at this time.

And why Egypt in particular?

India is controlled by Britain

EGYPT

FRANCE

Open Ended

Map Literacy and Inference:

What about Egypt made it a beneficial location for Napoleon and the French to take over?

[hint: think about geography and the connection to India]

Title: Bonaparte Visits the Plague Stricken in Jaffa; Artist: Antoine-Jean Gros
Year: 1804; Medium: Oil on canvas

Historical Skill Time!
Sourcing...

Take a moment and look closely at this painting.

Find Napoleon, and find other people in the painting. Who are they? What are they doing?

Take a minute and just think, solo.

Open Ended

Okay, found Napoleon? Good.

In what way is he (Napoleon) being shown in this painting?

Napoleon is shown as being...

hint: think adjectives

Title: Bonaparte Visits the Plague Stricken in Jaffa; Artist: Antoine-Jean Gros
Year: 1804; Medium: Oil on canvas

In reality...

Napoleon had abandoned most of his army in Egypt, and many died of either disease or killed by local forces.

As for what we see in this painting, we actually don't have any eye witnesses saying that it happened like this, except for one guy....

Title: Bonaparte Visits the Plague Stricken in Jaffa; Artist: Antoine-Jean Gros
Year: 1804; Medium: Oil on canvas

What does Dr. D say?

He says that Napoleon grabbed a plague-sick soldier and helped him to walk to get help.

René-Nicolas Dufriche Desgenettes, 1762-1837
(French military doctor)

(Side note...)

(Dr. D is actually in this painting right here, between Napoleon and the patient with his arm up.)

Title: Bonaparte Visits the Plague Stricken in Jaffa; Artist: Antoine-Jean Gros
Year: 1804; Medium: Oil on canvas

This guy...

Doctor René-Nicolas Desgenettes (let's just call him Dr. D.)

René-Nicolas Dufriche Desgenettes, 1762-1837
(French military doctor)

Open Ended

So, what does this example tell us about how we need to look at painting, photographs, and other media from the past?

Title: Bonaparte Visits the Plague Stricken in Jaffa; Artist: Antoine-Jean Gros
Year: 1804; Medium: Oil on canvas

Back to the painting...

Overall, the painting shows Napoleon in a positive light.

Note that it was painted in 1804, which was during or right before the height of Napoleon's power (Napoleon becomes Emperor in December 1804).

Open Ended

What motivation might Dr. D. have had to say that those nice things about Napoleon?

hint: think of his profession, who he worked for, and the painting itself