Claude Fournier
Encyclopedia
Claude Fournier L'Héritier (21 December 1745 – 1825) was a French
personality of the Revolution
, nicknamed l'Americain ("the American
").
(Haute-Loire
), the son of a poor weaver, and went to French America
to seek his fortune. At Saint Domingue on the island of Haiti
, he began the manufacture of tafia
(an inferior quality of rum
), but lost everything in a fire.
(1792).
He was on bad terms with the majority of the politicians (particularly with Jean-Paul Marat
) and spent much of his time in prison, all governments regarding him as an agitator
and accusing him of inciting to insurrection. Arrested for the first time for trying to force an entrance into the club of the Cordeliers
, from which he had been expelled, he was released, but was in prison from 12 December 1793, to 21 September 1794, and again from 9 March to 26 October 1795.
he was deported
to French Guiana
, but was allowed to return to the French Empire
in 1809. In 1811, while under surveillance at Auxerre
, he was accused of having provoked a riot against indirect tax
es known as the droits réunis (afterwards called contributions indirectes), and was imprisoned in the Château d'If
, where he remained until 1814.
On the second Bourbon Restoration
, Fournier was confined for about nine months in La Force Prison
. After 1816 he turned Royalist
, and passed his last years in importuning the Restoration government for compensation for his lost property in Saint Domingue. He died in obscurity.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
personality of the Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, nicknamed l'Americain ("the American
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
").
Early activities
He was born at AuzonAuzon
Auzon is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France....
(Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River.-History:Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
), the son of a poor weaver, and went to French America
French colonization of the Americas
The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...
to seek his fortune. At Saint Domingue on the island of Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, he began the manufacture of tafia
Tafia
Tafia is a kind of cheap rum made from sugarcane juice. It is typically unaged whereas rum is typically aged in wooden barrels to reduce the level of fusel. Most of the fusel is absorbed in the first two years...
(an inferior quality of rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
), but lost everything in a fire.
Revolution
Returning to France, he joined the Revolution with enthusiasm, and distinguished himself by organizing the popular armed force which became involved in all major insurrections of the capital: the march of women on October 5-6 (1789), Champ-de-Mars massacre (1791), and the Storming of the Tuileries Palace10th of August (French Revolution)
On 10 August 1792, during the French Revolution, revolutionary Fédéré militias — with the backing of a new municipal government of Paris that came to be known as the "insurrectionary" Paris Commune and ultimately supported by the National Guard — besieged the Tuileries palace. King Louis XVI and...
(1792).
He was on bad terms with the majority of the politicians (particularly with Jean-Paul Marat
Jean-Paul Marat
Jean-Paul Marat , born in the Principality of Neuchâtel, was a physician, political theorist, and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution...
) and spent much of his time in prison, all governments regarding him as an agitator
Agitator
An agitator is a person who actively supports some ideology or movement with speeches and especially actions. The Agitators were a political movement as well as elected representatives of soldiers, including the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War. They were also known...
and accusing him of inciting to insurrection. Arrested for the first time for trying to force an entrance into the club of the Cordeliers
Cordeliers
The Cordeliers, also known as the Club of the Cordeliers, Cordeliers Club, or Club des Cordeliers and formally as the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , was a populist club during the French Revolution.-History:The club had its origins in the Cordeliers district, a...
, from which he had been expelled, he was released, but was in prison from 12 December 1793, to 21 September 1794, and again from 9 March to 26 October 1795.
Consulate, Empire, Restoration
After the attempt on the First Consul in the Rue Sainte-NicaisePlot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise
The plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise, also known as the Machine infernale plot, was an assassination attempt on the life of the First Consul of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, in Paris on 24 December 1800...
he was deported
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, but was allowed to return to the French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
in 1809. In 1811, while under surveillance at Auxerre
Auxerre
Auxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department.Auxerre's population today is about 45,000...
, he was accused of having provoked a riot against indirect tax
Indirect tax
The term indirect tax has more than one meaning.In the colloquial sense, an indirect tax is a tax collected by an intermediary from the person who bears the ultimate economic burden of the tax...
es known as the droits réunis (afterwards called contributions indirectes), and was imprisoned in the Château d'If
Château d'If
The Château d'If is a fortress located on the island of If, the smallest island in the Frioul Archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea about a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille in southeastern France...
, where he remained until 1814.
On the second Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
, Fournier was confined for about nine months in La Force Prison
La Force Prison
La Force Prison was a French prison located in the Rue du Roi de Sicile, what is now the 4th arrondissement of Paris.Originally the private residence of the Duke of la Force, the structure was converted into a prison in 1780....
. After 1816 he turned Royalist
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
, and passed his last years in importuning the Restoration government for compensation for his lost property in Saint Domingue. He died in obscurity.