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Before the revolution, the bourgeoisie, or the wealthier and working part of the middle class, belonged to the Third Estate. The Third Estate, out of the Estates, had the almost no rights and the largest tax burden. However, after the new National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and drafted a new constitution for France, the nobility was eliminated and the bourgeoisie gained a massive amount of political power.…
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The main objectives of the lower estates was the obliteration of negligent government, liberty for the third estate since they were the majority excluded from any basic freedoms, and the stage of radical protection in order to keep the idea of the republic intact. These were not solely democratic changes, but a necessary step towards a more democratic mindset, which is enjoyed in modern times in developed countries like the United States of America. Also the principle ideas of the American Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights were influenced through the written work titled, Declaration of the Rights of Man, thus these works during the French Revolution helped impact the modern…
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There were numerous causes to justify The French Revolution. There existed problems inside France’s government, society, and economy. Most of these problems were ultimately experienced by the third estate, or the middle class. The third estate was then educated on a better way to live by the results of the Enlightenment philosophers and their philosophies. Certain conditions also led to the revolution, on top of its causes. Living conditions and representation in government are two examples. It is undeniable that the people of the third estate were correct in their campaign for change.…
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King Louis XVI ignored the demands of the Third Estate. When the Third Estate wanted to form the National Assembly, this exposed Kind Louis XIV's abuse of power. The Estates General was unfair due to the Third Estates constantly being outvoting by the first and second estates. This resulted in the Tennis Court Oath which said they wouldn't give up. Instead, the people of the Third Estate turned to rioting like when they stormed the Bastille to free political prisoners.…
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The heavy involvement of the government in commoners lives lead the third estate to want a less government controlled society. According to document 5, France's debt tripled when they supported the Americans in the American Revolution. With the country in a horrible crisis, they were in need money. Taxing their people was their solution. The Clergy and the Nobles, being the two richest classes, refused to pay even more taxes then they already did. King Louis the XVI lacked…
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In the late 1780s, France had a monarchy with 3 different social classes called estates. The First Estate consisted of the clergy. They owned 10% of the land when they were only 1% of the population. The Second Estate had the nobles, and they owned 20% of the land and paid no tax. Nobles counted for 2% of the population leaving the other 97% to the Third Estate. The Third Estate paid high taxes and lacked privileges. Half of their income was used to pay their taxes and they were starving due to the high bread cost. While the Third Estate was suffering, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette threw extravagant parties and borrowed money to help with the American Revolution.…
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Theme Essay #4: (2001) Discuss the political and social consequences of the Protestant Reformation in the first half of the sixteenth century. {Kagan 354-387}…
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Throughout time, people have overthrown governments for a variety of social, political, and economic reasons. When basic needs aren't met and natural rights aren't protected, people start to question the government's morals and ideals. in the 18th century, the citizens of France were inspired by the Enlightenment ideas of Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau, as well as the success of the American Revolution. As a reaction to their unfair treatment, the people of the Third Estate rebelled against the government, and eventually, after many deaths and changes of power, the people finally received their much-deserved rights. There were many well-justified causes of the French Revolution, and although many horrible effects presented themselves, the resulting…
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Document 2 shows how the third estate was made up of 97% of the population but only had 33% of the power. This meant the nobles and clergy could always outvote them, even thought they were only 3% of the population. One of the issues voted on were taxes, with the results being huge taxes on the poor and little to no taxes on the nobles and clergy, as recorded in document 1. This document also shows the miserable effects of this unfair taxing on the Third Estate, with people suffering and children running around in rags. The bourgeoisie, members of the Third Estate who were wealthy but were not born into a noble family, were enraged by their lack of representation and brought a list of grievances to the Estates General. One of said grievances from document 3 was that the votes in the assembly should be counted by heads, giving the Third Estate more influence on the results. When the king refused, members of the Third Estate formed the National Assembly as an act of…
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The time period of 1787-1815 was a period of overlap of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Up until 1792, Louis XVI was reigning in France. He was experiencing an economic downfall, and had to call the Estates General as a result of disagreement over taxation to deal with the issues. The Third Estate joined forces with some of the nobles and clergy, and became the National Assembly or the National Convention as they would later be called. Together, they developed a constitution with intentions of creating peace within France. However, that peace did not last long because of differences in political beliefs between the moderate Girondists favoring a constitutional monarchy, and the radical Jacobins who wanted to demolish the monarchy. The Jacobins took over because of a French defeat between the Ironists and a Prussia/Austria alliance. The monarchy ended up abolished, and a republic style government was restored. A lot of these events corresponded with enlightenment beliefs. The French Revolution ultimately nelped the advancement of European Enlightenment ideals by following through with their dispotition…
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The third estate was the most mistreated group out of everyone. They had no rights to anything even though they were half the population of France. People in the third estate paid all of the taxes that were owed to the government while the first and second estate paid nothing at all because they were higher than everyone. A quote from Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution says “The Third Estate is the People and the People is the foundation of the State; it is in fact the State itself; the other estates are merely political categories while by the immutable (unchangeable) laws of nature the People is everything. Everything should be subordinated (inferior) to it...…
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Discussions brought up by thinkers such as John Locke, Voltaire, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau encouraged the political revolutionaries in the development of the birth of the rights of a man, beliefs of equality, freedoms, and liberalism. Along with it came the arrival of the “self-made” man, referring to the embracing of liberty of the individual and accepting radical views, creating another conflict with the values upheld by the monarchy.…
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The estates general meeting was a huge opportunity for the poorest people of the third estate to be heard by the king. The double representation was seen as a huge victory and a hope for a change was growing. On the first days of the meeting, they brought cahiers, the King and his delegates announced the principles of the meeting and the Third Estate discovered that the double representation was in fact a sham. It was decided that the votes will be hold by orders, 1 vote for each estate and not by head. The double representation was a fallacy. Louis XVI and his advisors focused on a complete overhaul of the French tax system. They exposed their view while the only preoccupation of the Third Estate was to talk about their representation. The only solution to the financial crisis was to make all us people of France pay the taxes because of the deficit spending, no matter what estate they were from. At the time, only us the third estate was subject to the taxes. The Nobility was taking care of the lands and the Clergy was responsible of the people's education. Their argument was that their action was a huge benefit to society and should therefore be exempt from paying taxes. But obviously, the King's decision was heavily rejected by the Nobility. Louis XVI faced a huge resistance from his own group who wouldn't accept any loss of wealth or power. He was heavily criticized by the Nobility who pictured him as a stupid, nerdy man with a way of governing the country that was full of nonsense.…
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A flawed fixed social structure and fiscal mismanagement are some of the plethora of issues that demonstrated the disdain for the rights of man in pre-revolutionary times. During this time, unequal distribution of wealth, status, and land lead to the economic downfall of France. To put a stop to the financial ruin, leaders knew they needed to make a radical change to their taxation system. Because the first and second estate benefited from tax exemption, the third estate felt the need to fight for their individual freedom and social equality, bringing about the revolution, it’s main goal being the pursuit of the rights of man.…
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The Church of the middle Ages played a capital role in the socio-economical shaping of France. Because it was considered to be derived from God, it established laws that govern people’s lives. The…
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