The Third Estate Prior to the French Revolution

There are very few members in the first and second estates, yet they owned the most land, while the third estate made up most of the population, yet owned very little land. “First: Clergy - 1% of the people owned 10% of the land. Second Estate: Nobles - 2% of the people owned 35% of the land. Third Estate - Middle class, peasants, city workers 97% of the people owned 55% of the land.” (Document 2) There were high prices, high taxes, and people were listening to enlightenment ideas. Louis XVI decided to tax the Second Estate. They called a meeting of the Estates-General - an assembly of representatives from all three estates. (ROI) In addition, as a political cause, the third estate had no privileges or say in the government,while both the clergy and nobles did. As mentioned before, the inequality of taxes proved another gap in the social classes. “The Revolution had been accomplished in the minds of men long before it was translated into fact.... The middle class...was sensitive to their inferior legal position. The Revolution came from them-the middle class. The working classes were incapable of starting or controlling the Revolution. They were just beginning to learn to read.” (Document 4) Estates- General was the first such meeting in 175 years. Met on May 5th,1789 in Versailles. In the Estate- General each estate had one vote. (ROI)

Before the French Revolution, there were three estates, or classes: the nobility, the clergy and the commoners. The nobility and the clergy had many more privileges than the third estate and that is what caused the French Revolution. The Third estate was composed of the peasants, the workers and the bourgeoisie; unlike the other segments of the Third Estate, the bourgeoisie was able to communicate its grievances to the public during the period after the French Revolution: 1789-1799.

The Government in France was a very shaky one. Members of the 3rd estate called for an

The third estate did achieve many of its goals. The third estate was able to write its own constitution. In this constitution they outlaid the rights that would be given to the peasants and even declared that all men were created equal. The third estate took power over France for the three years following the beheading of king Louis XVI. During this time period the government was liberal and introduced equality to the market place.

Sieyés later in his essay talks about the Third Estate being an essential part of the nation. He argues that the Third Estate as a whole can survive and run the country without any of the other estates, but the First and Second Estates can't survive without the Third. Then says, " Therefore, what is the Third Estate? Everything..." and then says, .".. everything would be infinitely better without the others." He makes the point that the third estate is everything and that France would be better of if it was just the Third Estate, because they are the workers. They are the majority and have the power to run a nation, where as the Second and First Estate are so small and don't work as much as the Third Estate so they wouldn't be able to run a country successfully on their own.

France was in a financial crisis before Louis took the throne. The country participating in the Seven Years War and the American War of Independence did nothing to help the economic issues. There was heavy taxation on the people of the Third Estate, including the taille, a land tax, and the vingtième, a 5% property tax. This caused strife for the Third Estate because they could not afford to pay these and still feed themselves. In addition to this, Louis wouldn’t introduce taxes for the First and Second Estates, as they would convince him not to. While the Third Estate were struggling to pay feudal dues, rumours of the Monarch’s lavish lifestyles were reaching the lower classes, which angered them greatly. That being said, the Clergy and Nobility

Abby Sieyes argues in his pamphlet, “What is the Third Estate?” that the third estate who are the common French people, deserve to be respected and are of more value than the two other estates. The clergy and aristocracy were excluding the common people of France and treating them unfairly. The Enlightenment philosophers proclaimed universal human happiness as the highest goal, as well as liberty, equality, and fraternity as the highest means of achieving that goal. (Batiza 681)

There were three estates in France before the revolution, each one of those estates represents a person in source 3. While estates one and two would most likely be the two men in shock, as they are dressed extraordinary compared to the man on the ground rising up. That man on the ground however would portray the third estate rebelling and saying no more to the injustices that have come to face at the hands of the kind, first , and second estates by storming the bastille and readying themselves to fight the higher estates and king. The message of source 3 is to show the third estates awakening and realization of the injustices they have been facing at the hands of the king and the 1 and second estates. Injustices such as the class system of

They had a Third Estate that evolved into a caste with its agenda of its own. And they wanted the political equality with the First Estate ( which consists of rich people called the clergy) and a Second Estate ( that is the noble class; which are a second form of a lesser rich, called the aristocracy). France was involved in the American Revolution and because of that they acquired a debt. Louis XVI had to make taxes higher and reduce privileges; he also faced provincial parlements. This was a difficult situation for him and in order to solve the problem, Louis had to summon the Estates General on May 1789.

The higher classes took money from the grieving, poor people in France making them weaker by the minute. This caused chaos, desperation for money, and taxes. Many struggled and suffered during this time, but no one came to rescue them from their suffering.The division of the classes of the French society was a major part of the both the French Revolution and the Estates System. “The perspectives of the three estates were the first and second estates comprised of the upper classes- the King and Queen, the nobility, and the clergy. The third estate comprised of the peasants and the hard-working subjects”(Mimm, The Three Estates). As the upper classes they believed that since the third estate of peasants and servants were helpless that they would

Nearly one percent of France’s population fled the country in 1789. The French Revolution was one of the most horrific and violent eras in world history. For centuries prior to the revolution, the people of France were set in a strict caste system. This system had three groups: the First Estate, made up of the clergy, the Second Estate, made up of the nobility, and the Third Estate, consisting of everyone else. At this time, the Third Estate was the largest group, and the only group that paid taxes.

Listen up Children, because God himself has allowed me to reflect back on my old life as a human to educate you on what was happening during the French Revolution. Now, everything up until the point of my death by guillotine I lived through, and everything after I watched over - and believe you me this was not a time you wanted to live through. France was a very dangerous place and the French revolution was among one of the most violent in the world, so keep reading for the specifics and turn the page for the beginning.

In the 1700s, France had a social and political system that divided the people into three social classes: the first estate, the second estate, and the third estate. The first estate consisted of the Roman Catholic Church’s clergy and made up one percent of France’s population. The second estate was made up of rich nobles and represented two percent of France’s population. The remaining ninety-seven percent of France’s population fell under the third estate. The third estate was also divided into three categories: the bourgeoisie, the workers in France’s cities such as tradespeople, apprentices, or laborers, and the peasants. The peasants formed the largest category in the third estate and made up eighty percent of France’s entire

The French Revolution occurred throughout the years of 1789-1799. This revolution played a huge role in the lives of the French people and at the same time influenced other parts of Europe as well. Society changed dramatically after the corrupt King Louis XVI fell, followed by the collapse of the French monarchy. Now, the French people don’t want the rich to have an over abundance of power. The tradition of control by the monarchy, aristocracy, was simply out-dated and had to be changed. The French people sought equality, humane laws, and civil rights. These changes were soon all made possible once the corrupt monarch was overthrowed. The Estates General was the catalyst for the revolution in May 1789. Members of the Third Estate were locked out of a meeting that was held by the Estates-General on June 17th, 1789. Members of the Third Estate would then meet alone and adopt their title, The National Assembly. Just a few days later the same members would meet in a nearby tennis court, thus esablishing the Tennis Court Oath. The oath would basically outline that: meetings would be held in order to resist the pressure of the corrupt nobility. (“Tennis Court Oath,”) This oath symbolized the end of the Third Estates’ allegiance to the monarchy. Another influential event of the revolution was the storming of a medieval fortress and prison located in Paris, known as the

Soon after, the 3rd estate realized the state that they, and their country were in, and soon rebelled against the 1st and 2nd estates. This rebellion was influenced by the horrible conditions they were left to live in, including having to live off of nothing but the profit from their crops, as most of the 3rd estate consisted of farmers. This was not helped by the fact that the 3rd estate had to pay 100% of the taxes, and were becoming poorer and poorer, due to a drought within the years leading up to the revolution, lowering their profit, and making it harder to live. Soon after they rebelled, they created a National Assembly, which then met up with the 1st and 2nd estates, and voted on a constitution, which would turn France into a republic, and abolish all traces of monarchy. Soon after this, France broke out into chaos, undivided on whether to change France, or keep it the same. Soon after, many events that take place in the the places being visited happened. you will learn more of these places within the