French Revolution Causes

The Leading Causes of the French Revolution

Thesis: The inequality between estates, the rising prices in bread, and the creation of the Tennis Court Oath were all main causes of the French Revolution.

One of the leading causes of the French Revolution was the inequality between estates. In 1789, King Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates- General. There, the third estate expressed discontent with their current political and social standings in comparison to the other estates. They did this through a list of grievances. One change the third estate asked for in that list was “that votes in the assembly should be taken and counted by head” (Document A). The third estate felt that even though they were the largest of the three estates,
In a graph representing the average price of a Hectoliter (100 liters) of Wheat in France from the years 1726 to 1790, it shows that the price of wheat more than doubled from the year 1780 to the year 1790 (Document C). The French relied heavily on bread in their daily diet, most families ate three to four loaves of bread every day. With each loaf weighting about four pounds, that is about 16 pounds of bread every day. Bread was the staple of every French families diet, but with the decline in the French’s economy, mixed with bad weather, the price of bread skyrocketed. Combining the high taxes from the government and the rising price in bread, the third estate could no longer pay for their food or taxes. In a table called the Wage Earners Budget, it shows that in 1789 many people in the third estate working in certain occupations could not even come close to affording bread. Someone that worked as a laborer in Rebellion wallpaper works made only fifteen sous a day, while bread cost fourteen and a half sous (Document D). That is 97 percent of this person’s daily income. With prices in bread so high, rebellions broke out across France. People broke into bakeries, commoners were not even safe walking down the street with a piece of bread in their hands. Many governments in the late 1700’s recognized the correlation between high food prices and public disorder. Even though King Louis XVI recognized
After the meeting of the Estates- General in 1789, the third estate was frustrated and not confident in their government’s ability to fulfill their needs, so the people of the third estate formed the National Assembly. The third estate was then locked out of their meeting place, but determined to proceed, they gathered in a tennis court and each member took an oath. In the oath, they promised “nothing can prevent it from continuing its deliberation”(Document E). The people of the National Assembly were determined to stand up for their rights as French citizens and they would do whatever it took to accomplish their goals. In a painting done by Jacques- Louis David called “The Tennis Court Oath”(Document F), the artist, David, does a remarkable job of portraying the emotions behind the characters in the painting. In the painting there are hundreds of men, all with their arms high in the air and a few even throwing their hats in the air in celebration for their cause. They were able to establish new goal for the National Assembly. The Tennis Court Oath was a statement that the control of the people did not reside with the King, but instead, in the group of people making up 97 percent of France, the third estate. The Oath was the first assertion of authority by the National Assembly. This action united all of the members of the National Assembly with a common