Preview

How Did The Third Estate Justify The French Revolution

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1242 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did The Third Estate Justify The French Revolution
Analysis of Third Estate’s Justification to Revolt against France’s Monarchy Centuries from the day when the common people of France put their last king to face the helm of the guillotine, a more democratic and transparent government now resides over the people of France. Of course, this result was a production of, arguably, the most bloodiest and horrific revolution to ever occur in modern times. Therefore, the question of the revolution’s legitimacy arises, centered on the fact of whether the Third Estate of France was justified to revolt against its ruling monarchy. Although, the French Revolution's pattern may have its ups and downs, several solid pieces of evidence and reputable sources support the fact that it was reasonable for the …show more content…
“Thus the number of men raised in each department ought to be proportional to its resources…but we see that this relationship is subject to very wide variations” (de Tocqueville, 252) This is clear cut evidence of a certain bias towards the upper class in government system. Although the Third Estate made up around 98% of the population of France at that time, they had the same amount of representatives as each of the First and Second. This method was also flawed in that the rich nobles and wealthy class could theoretically override all the votes made by the Third because they outnumbered them by so much. This is a direct reason for why the people of France felt justified to rebel and this underrepresentation in government was a backbone to the revolution that would ensue. In a general view, the common people of France were, in essence, calling for each individual to be worthy of the same treatment as anybody else, no matter their social status. This statement is made quite clear in the Declaration of the Rights of Man. “The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order [to] remind them continually of their rights and duties.” (Declaration of the Rights of Man) This was one major improvement that the National Assembly wanted to see in its new government. It brought the full value of individualism to every single person in the country. By seeking this type of reform, facts have again shown that despite all the bloodshed and sometimes unnecessary instances of murder, at the very least, the people of France were justified to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    What was a significant law that changed the lives of the French people after the French…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The French view was that a nation of citizens was not only more equal but a stronger group with more power. The French built a national military and legal entity that replaced the regional structures of nobility. By the 19th century, this national organization brought an end to nobility’s privileges for the few and established common, just systems for the many. Conservatives were opposed to the new, national ideology as it threatened the aristocracy’s hold on power.…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Facing innumerable inequalities in politics and economics, the french citizens wanted to rewrite their social contract in order to liberate themselves from the unfair monarchy. It made it almost impossible to survive under the harsh conditions they were forced into.…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first and second estates had the system set up so that they had all the power. They gave the third estate the right to vote, but since each of the three estates had equal voting power, they were always out voted two to one. The clergy and the nobility only made up about three percent of the population in France at the time but they still had all the voting power. A radical clergyman by the name of Abbé Emmanuel Sieyés wrote in favor of change. He argued that the third estate was everything but they were treated like nothing.…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As suggested, a meeting of the Estates-General was called to vote on reforms. The voting system was not fair because there was only one vote per estate. Despite the population of the people in the Third estate being extremely large, they only had one vote as compared to the two in the First and Second estate, biased to France’s absolute monarchy. The stubbornness of the First and Second estates is further pronounced when Necker sought it beneficial to tax the First and Second estates, but “the nobles and high clergy forced the king to dismiss [Necker]” (Esler 213). This further provides a cause for the Third Estate’s unrest, ultimately leading to the storming of the Bastille.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the Assembly had been created, the lower class did not have representation. Although the lower class made up most of the population, the upper classes still won the vote because they were well represented. The lower class wanted equal representation. Soon after, the lower class called themselves the National Assembly. That’s when a lot of the radical revolting began. There were extremely dangerous and life threatening attacks against the upper classes. The lower classes started looking at enlightenment ideas especially ones that dealt with “ equal opportunity, freedom of speech, popular sovereignty and representative government,” (history.com). After France went to war with Austria, the king was arrested by a group of extremists. He and his wife, the infamous Marie Antoinette, were eventually beheaded for treason. The French Revolution ended when Napoleon Bonaparte led the military which was extremely powerful at that time. The revolution happened because the lower class wanted to get rid of aristocracy and have equal rights instead. They also wanted to get rid of Christianity so the church would have less…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    French Revolution - 1

    • 634 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There were many issues that led up to the French Revolution. For example, the unfair tax burden. According to Document two, the Third Estate paid all of the government taxes. There were three estates. The 1st estate was all of the clergy; they had wealth because they collected taxes from the 3rd estate and they also owned land. They had power, food, liberty, and freedom. The 2nd estate was the rich titled nobility. They derived their wealth from land ownership, and they collected some taxes. They also had power, food, and freedom. The 3rd estate was separated into three different classes. The Bourgeoisie was the highest of the third estate; they had cash wealth since they were made up of the merchants, bankers, and artisans. The Bourgeoisie paid very high taxes, and had very little power, they had a food supply, but they had no power. The peasant farmers, and the city workers had no wealth, power, or liberty, and they had to pay taxes. The 1st and 2nd estate only took up about 3% of the population. The Bourgeoisie thought that the taxes were unfair to the entire 3rd estate. Document three explained how a peasant had 7 children, and couldn’t support her family, but she still had to pay taxes. This shows how unfair the tax burden was.…

    • 634 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civilians of the French colonies fought for social equality. The social classes in France were divided into three estates, the Clergy, Nobility, and Commoners. The Clergy and Nobility were excluded from taxes, while the Commoners had to pay taxes and were burdened with manual labor. This played a major role in the cause of the revolution. Another issue that took part in the revolution was overpopulation, as many people couldn’t find jobs to pay for taxes. ”…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The French Revolution was caused because the Third Estate’s desire to have liberty and also be equal. The way France’s social class was made it was just a matter of time before the revolution would start. The economic classes of France were made up of three estates. The first estate was the church, or clergy, the second estate was the nobles, and the third estate was made up of the peasants, the uneducated, and lawyers. France’s economic system made the third estate pay the most taxes and the clergy members didn’t have to pay taxes, and for the nobles they paid little or no taxes at all. People who are starving and can barely afford to survive can only pay so much taxes before they stop paying their taxes.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    French Revolution

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Enlightenment of the eighteenth century inspired revolutionary ideas in France in the 1790s. During the French Revolution time, the rulers of the revolution, the bourgeois, promoted liberal, enlightened ideas like equality before the law and religious freedom. With the idea of natural rights for a couple years, feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Olympe de Gouges began to stand up for women's right. However it was felt that the bourgeois were not capable enough to survive in a free society. Throughout the revolution liberalism and nationalism were growing and the people were becoming known as highest citizens in politics. The ideas and objectives of the people during the French Revolution changed throughout its Declaration of the Rights of Women, National Convention and the National Assembly.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The start of the French Revolution was directly in French society. Society was constantly dominated by nobles, or a social group that was primarily made up of: aristocrats, officeholders, professionals, merchants and businessmen. The French society was broken up into three social classes, or better known as “Estates.”. The First Estate was comprised of all the clergy; the Second Estate was comprised of the nobility, and the Third Estate was comprised of everyone else, including wealthy lawyers, businessmen, urban laborers and poor peasants. The Third Estate was by far the largest social class. All of these classes had one thing in common, and that was a want for an economy that would serve their interests. The nobility depended on a constant infusion of talent and economic power form the wealthy social groups represented in the Third Estate. Less prosperous lawyers were jealous of the privileged position very few had in their profession. Over the course of the century the price of offices rose, making it more difficult to buy one’s way into nobility, and creating tensions between middling members of the Third Estate and the very rich in trade and commerce who were the only group able to afford to climb the social ladder. Several fault lines ran through the elite and the middle classes which led to resentment of the government and a need for change.…

    • 564 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before the Revolution, France was divided socially in a structure known as the Old Regime. It consisted of three estates. The First Estate was the clergy, who owned ten percent of the land but comprised of only one percent of the population. The Second Estate, with nobility, included two percent of the population but owned thirty-five percent of the land. The largest was the Third Estate, which was made up of the middle class, peasants, and city workers, owned only fifty-five percent of the land but made up ninety-seven percent of the population (Doc. 2). The Third Estate was taxed in extreme proportions so much so that bread, which was a necessity and the base of all meals, became very difficult to pay and obtain. It was becoming increasingly difficult to survive on so little (Doc 1). However, the first two Estates lived easily with no taxes. Even the bourgeoisie, the middle class, became as wealthy as the preceding Estate, but because of where they were born, they were still burdened by taxes. This led to restlessness in the Third Estate. Since they comprised most of France, they joined together and planned a revolt.…

    • 656 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    French Revolution Causes

    • 1739 Words
    • 7 Pages

    France’s social structure was an aspect of society that majority of the French were greatly displeasured about. The social structure was very unbalanced during the Old Regime. The majority of the Third Estate third estate was going hungry and only as time went on poverty kept increasing. It was also clear that as time went on that the nobles and the clergy were only seeking more privileges than what they already had. As if the Third Estate couldn't have any more burdens put on their lives, there was also a food shortage occurring that would completely shock the whole nation. The harvest season the year before was so “disastrous” that it’s effects were greatly “felt” and because of that bread prices quickly rose (Price 77). When that occurred, the poverty stricken people had a difficult time trying to provide for themselves along with their families. This enraged the Third Estate because while they were suffering horribly, the First and Second estates were living luxuriously and were able to afford the sky rocketing food prices. From there, the angered civilians had enough reasons to act out and because of that they lashed out against the higher ups. "The third estate seemed intent not just on removing fiscal inequality, but on undermining the entire social order” (Price 60). The Third Estate felt very strong about how they have been mistreated…

    • 1739 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    French Revolution Essay

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The world has seen many revolutions in history. One of the biggest revolutions was the French Revolution because it came with many consequences and influences. Nothing else like this had ever happened this powerful to change the political status quo. Many people surprisingly don’t know how the French Revolution started but through this paper we will be learning more about it. Starting in 1789 through 1794 the people of France dethroned and arrested their king Louis XVI, took apart his monarchy, and executed him, his wife, and thousands of nobles. The French people then set up a new system of government on concepts of popular rule, personal liberty, and equal justice for all to replace their old leaders. This was a new start for France and would hopefully put them in the position they wanted to be in as a country.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays