Miss Carrol
November 8, 2014 French Revolution
The French Revolution was from 1789 to 1815 and was a major turning point in history.
The revolution led to many changes in France. The French Revolution was caused by political reasons such as King Louis XVI’s absolutism and economic reasons such as an unfair taxation system. The revolution impacted the people of France both positively and negatively such as education reforms and The Reign of Terror, it also had positive effect outside of France such as a growing revolutionary spirit.
One cause of the French Revolution had to do with politics. An example would be Louis
XVI’s calling of the Estates General, who had not met in 175 years, which led to the creation of the National Assembly that created the Constitution of 1791. According to the excerpt by
Friedman and Foner another political cause of the French Revolution was that Louis XVI was absolute and could literally do anything he pleased (Document 1). Another reason why the revolution was caused was for economic reasons such as deficit spending and poor harvests resulting in increased food prices. Shown by the graph by Jackson J. Spielvogel, the Third Estate made up 98% of the population, owned 65% of the land, produced 100% of the food and paid
100% of the taxes (Document 2).
The French Revolution affected the people of France by establishing public education, abolishing absolutism, and a growing sense of nationalism in France. According to the primary source of Helen Williams, who lived in Paris during the Reign of Terror, adapted by Jane Shuter, everyone in France was afraid to say anything to each other for fear of execution (Document 6).
France came to be patrolled by the Committee of Public Safety, which ensured everything but safety for the citizens, bringing anyone who spoke out or did anything against the views of
Robespierre to jail or to the guillotine. Other ways people in France