The Rights Of The First Estate During The French Revolution
The French Revolution (1788-1799) was known as the biggest event in world history because it changed the people’s perspective of France. The people in France wanted political and social rights that they felt were not being given. The news of Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques , Rousseau, and Voltaire were spreading like wildfire, and the society of France were hearing about the Natural Rights of life,liberty,and property. People started to realize they didn't have any of these things because of their King Louis XVI. The citizens of France starting revolting because of the unfair treatment of the third estate, unfair taxing system, and debt owed by France. Before the French Revolution, France had something
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called the Ancien Regime which was the old order the people abided by. Everyone was put into a social group known as estates and in those estates people were separated into three groups the first estate, second estate, and the third estates.
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...It is in the People that all national power resides and for the People that all states exist.” This is saying that the third estate were the people of France and the power is in the hand of the people.The first and second estates were just there for political and social categories. However, things in third estate was still horrible and people were still being mistreated. Children and families were lacking the things they needed to survive
especially food. A excerpt from Travels in France by Author Young says “the poor people seem very poor indeed. The children are terribly ragged, and The lack of bread is terrible. Stories arrive every moment from the provinces of riots and disturbances, and calling in the military, to preserve the peace of the markets...The price of bread has risen above people’s ability to pay. This causes great misery”. This quote is expressing how poor people were and they could not afford most things in the markets especially bread. The prices for bread were higher than most people could afford and it brought much despair to people. France mistreated the third estate because of where they stood in the social ladder. Unfair laws and treatments were given to the people of the third estate which pleased the people of the first and second estate because they literally controlled the people in the third estate. The unfair taxing system was also another problem in France especially for the third estate.With the third estate having the most land and population they had to pay the most taxes. Paying taxes took a lot out
called the Ancien Regime which was the old order the people abided by. Everyone was put into a social group known as estates and in those estates people were separated into three groups the first estate, second estate, and the third estates.
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...It is in the People that all national power resides and for the People that all states exist.” This is saying that the third estate were the people of France and the power is in the hand of the people.The first and second estates were just there for political and social categories. However, things in third estate was still horrible and people were still being mistreated. Children and families were lacking the things they needed to survive
especially food. A excerpt from Travels in France by Author Young says “the poor people seem very poor indeed. The children are terribly ragged, and The lack of bread is terrible. Stories arrive every moment from the provinces of riots and disturbances, and calling in the military, to preserve the peace of the markets...The price of bread has risen above people’s ability to pay. This causes great misery”. This quote is expressing how poor people were and they could not afford most things in the markets especially bread. The prices for bread were higher than most people could afford and it brought much despair to people. France mistreated the third estate because of where they stood in the social ladder. Unfair laws and treatments were given to the people of the third estate which pleased the people of the first and second estate because they literally controlled the people in the third estate. The unfair taxing system was also another problem in France especially for the third estate.With the third estate having the most land and population they had to pay the most taxes. Paying taxes took a lot out