The French Revolution Essay

This meant that they were heavily taxed like the rest of the Third Estate, but many avaided taxes. Some of the bourgeois were envious of the nobility and had resentment towards the First and Second Estates, many against the Ancien Regime and well educated a large proportion of the bourgeois knew of the discoveries happening during the Age of Enlightenment. The Ancien Regime prioritised the people of France in order of Estates, with the King being above all, as a result of the system keeping 97% of the population in one category the system did not satisfy many of the bourgeois of the time resulting in them supporting the revolution.

The French Revolution was a period of social and political turmoil in France from 1789 to 1799 that greatly affected modern and French history. It marked the decline of powerful monarchies and the rise of democracy, individual rights and nationalism. This revolution came with many consequences because of the strive for power and wealth, but also had many influential leaders attempting to initiate change in the French government and the economy. In 1789 the people of France dismissed King Louis XVI of his title, took apart his monarchy and executed him, his wife Marie Antoinette and thousands of nobles. The French set up a new system of government with specific revolutionary ideals, including liberty, equality and fraternity. This was a

The first estate, for the people of the highest position in France belonged to the clergy; this group contained the members of the religious rules such as Bishops, Monks and Nuns. However, the people of this estate were not popular among many people of especially the third estate. This was mainly because of the power

The French society divided into three estates. The first estate provides social services. It contains nuns, monks, and priest. The second estate consisted of the nobility of the French society. The third estate

to get all the power of France. It should also be said that not all the nobles

Third Estate- The French social society was broken up into three estates the first being the clergy, the second is consisted of the nobility; and the third estate is basically everyone else from wealthy financiers to beggars and peasants. The third estate had occupations in finance, manufacturing, and commerce. This social class was an ambitious group approved of expanding the publishing industry, purchased many new homes in Paris and other cities, and subsidized the fine arts. In 1789, the third estate was allowed to have a vote in polices and with the help of the other two estates help create the National Assembly.

The first estate, the clergy, included all church officials, from bishops to monks and nuns. They owned 10 percent of French land and collected 150 million livres a year. They also paid no tax to the state other than a voluntary “free gift” every five years. Their high standing officials also acted as governmental advisors. Priests who supported the poor were viewed poorly, paid drastically less, and forced to live moderately.

Prior to the French Revolution, being a part of the third estate was unfair. The way that the Estates General worked was that each of the three estates got one vote and the side with two votes won. Because the first and second estates were privileged they would always win the vote. The reason that this was unfair was because the third estate made up 97% of the population, yet only got one vote. The little money that people in the third estate had was taken away by the many taxes taken by the first two estates. The Estates General worked so that you could not rise above your social status, so if you were born to the third estate you would stay in the third estate.

The First and Second Estate, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed many advantages that were unfair for the Third Estate. The Third Estate is made up by poor peasant, workers, and the bourgeoisie, such as merchants and professional people (Marshall 467). The Third Estate had a hard time working, and paying the heavy taxes at the same time (Woloch 525). In the middle of the 1700, a group of writers started to point out about the problem of the systems of government, and urged the reformation of the French society into more modern reasons.

In 18th century France, the political and social structure was called The Old Regime. The Old Regime began during the Middle Ages, in about the 11th or 12th century, and divided the French people into three estates. Members of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church made up the First Estate, who owned 10% of the land in France, and made up 1% of the population. The two groups in the estate were the upper clergy and the lower clergy. The upper clergy contained church leaders such as bishops, archbishops, and cardinals. The lower clergy consisted of parish priests. Furthermore, members of the First Estate did not have to pay taxes and had certain privileges such as access to high offices; the Second Estate members also maintained these

All the negatives pertaining to the three estates and their purposes for helping France’s financial issue was a fiasco, that later turned around on those that sought for wealth and status over the common people. As said from David Andress’s French Society in Revolution, 1789-1799, the common people saw that their estate wasn’t receiving equality compared to the two other estates and one biased decision after another just resulted in a revolt titled, The French Revolution. The Revolution was due to the inequality of the estates and those that recognized the wrong and unfairness that the government supplied them, came together to over through their government. Some results of the revolution were obvious. For instance, once the French Revolution began the Clergy slowly started to lose power and the National Assembly only diminished their power even more.

The poor in France, which made up most of the Third Estate, were impoverished and struggled to get by each day because the taxes that

The Old Order: During this time France was separated into an outdated class system, which were called Estates.The first Estate was made up of the clergy which was about 1% of the population. The clergy were nuns, monks, priests, and bishops. The clergy still enjoyed the wealth the church had gathered had gathered during the middle ages however despite their immense wealth they did not have to pay taxes. The second Estate consisted of the titled nobility of France. They made up about 2% of France’s population. These nobles had their military power removed by Louis XIV but they received other rights in return like top standings in the government, army, court, and the church. These people were also wealthy but did not pay taxes. The third Estate

King Louis XVI, his wife Mary Antoinette, and the Roman Catholic Church were all major sources of power abuse. Mary Antoinette used the funds of France to serve her own purposes, and lead to significant debt. King Louis XVI approved the levying of taxes against the Third Estate, despite their extremely poor economic state, causing revolts. The Roman Catholic Church and the Pope also exercised their power and superiority over the Third Estate and limited the working class’ power for unequal representation. The First and Second Estates also utilized social discrimination to their advantage. They lived lavish lifestyles without taxes, and forced the suffering upon the poor. The actions of these people and groups led to an increase in protest and disapproval, and led to the French Revolution. Therefore, the abuse of power played a major role in France’s change from peace to

Early liberalism in France operated based on the concept of mass equality under one common law. During the Ancien Régime, France was split into three estates, or classes, that separated the clergy, nobles, and citizens. The first estate, made up of clergymen, was considered the highest, and held the most power due to their close interaction with God. The second estate, consisting of nobles, was privileged via access to education, military promotions, and lack of want for any basic necessity. Finally, the third estate, comprised of every other individual in France, had almost nothing, working their whole lives simply to service the first and second estates. Early liberalism aimed to disband the