What name was given to the working-class revolutionaries who wore long trousers?

The working-class revolutionaries who wore long trousers were called the sans-culottes.

The name literally means “without culottes.” Culottes were fashionable knee-breeches associated with the nobility and prosperous bourgeoisie. Urban workers, artisans, shopkeepers, and other lower-class Parisians commonly wore long trousers instead, making their clothing a visible rejection of elite status.

The sans-culottes became a major popular force during the French Revolution, especially from the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792 through the Reign of Terror. They demanded political equality, popular democracy, affordable bread, price controls, and punishment for suspected enemies of the Revolution. They often supported radical groups connected with the Paris Commune and the Jacobins, although they were not identical to the Jacobin political club.

A common mistake is to treat “sans-culottes” as the name of a formal party or army. It was primarily a social and political label, and some middle-class revolutionaries adopted the style to show solidarity. Their influence declined after the Thermidorian Reaction and the suppression of popular uprisings in 1795.