What Caused The French Revolution Essay
In 1789, in France, the citizens began to strive for new ideas of liberty and equality among all social classes, leading to the French Revolution. They wanted to eliminate the absolute power and develop a new type of government. The Revolution questioned the power of the king. It had five main causes to it: Absolute Monarchism, Social Inequality, Economic Injustice, The Enlightenment and Other Revolutions. It additionally had four stages,The Tennis Court Oath, The Great Fear, The Reign of Terror and Moderation. This action of change in France lead to the spread of new ideas and the growth of nationalism.
France was under the absolute monarchy of King Louis the XVI and his wife Queen Marie Antoinette in 1789. Since there was no social contract between the monarchy and the citizens, the monarch’s words were final. The idea of a social contract is allowing the citizens to choose their representatives in the government. …show more content…
This system was named The Estate System. The first estate was Clergy, who were 0.5% of the population. The second estate were the nobles, who were 1.5% of the citizens. The third estate was represented by everyone else, who were 98% of the people. The third estate also consisted the Bourgeoise. They were middle class people that had many skills and made up the guilds. There was social inequality, because the first and second estate would have the privileges.
The Economic Inequality basically happened because of the tax system. The system France used for taxes was very different from the progressive tax system we use now, in which the more you earn the more you pay. Before the Revolution, the first and second estate paid zero taxes while the third estate paid all of them. Economic injustice became a cause of the French Revolution because people were clamoring for bread and the monarchy was spending all the money with wars, etc. People then started to
France was under the absolute monarchy of King Louis the XVI and his wife Queen Marie Antoinette in 1789. Since there was no social contract between the monarchy and the citizens, the monarch’s words were final. The idea of a social contract is allowing the citizens to choose their representatives in the government. …show more content…
This system was named The Estate System. The first estate was Clergy, who were 0.5% of the population. The second estate were the nobles, who were 1.5% of the citizens. The third estate was represented by everyone else, who were 98% of the people. The third estate also consisted the Bourgeoise. They were middle class people that had many skills and made up the guilds. There was social inequality, because the first and second estate would have the privileges.
The Economic Inequality basically happened because of the tax system. The system France used for taxes was very different from the progressive tax system we use now, in which the more you earn the more you pay. Before the Revolution, the first and second estate paid zero taxes while the third estate paid all of them. Economic injustice became a cause of the French Revolution because people were clamoring for bread and the monarchy was spending all the money with wars, etc. People then started to