When it was first published in 1762, The Social Contract was met with outrage and censorship. Rousseau became a wanted man both in France and in his native Geneva. However, thirty-two years later, in 1794, after the French Revolution his remains were transported to the Pantheon in Paris and he was buried as a national hero. The Social Contract was the foremost influence on the intellectual development of the French Revolution, and that stormy period in history is our best example of Rousseau's ideas put into practice. It is not fair to blame the Reign of Terror and the many disasters of the Revolution on Rousseau, but his influence was certainly felt throughout. (link)Rousseau Social Contract
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