The Terror of the Revolutionary Tribunal

In july, there had been 935 executions in paris. In august, there were just six. And for the rest of 17 94, only forty more people would be guillotined in the capital. As the tribunal ceased to be the draconian murder machine it had been transformed into, the con on turned to the overcrowded prisons. With the law of 22 prarial repealed, the vague denunciations that had landed most of the prisoners in jail were recognized as not being nearly enough to justify continuing to hold them. So the authorities started walking through the prisons and just kind of opening the doors. 35 hundred men and women were released in the month of august alone.