The Three Estates Of 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)

The execution of Louis XVI marked the beginning of an 18 month period in France known as the Reign Of Terror. The Reign Of Terror happened during the French Revolution from September 5, 1793 to July 27, 1794. The French were fighting enemies of the revolution, like normal civilians. During the terror, the government had control of almost everything, like the economy, religion, and rules or laws. This drove many people to revolt against the government, causing the Reign Of Terror. From the evidence and the documents provided, the Reign Of Terror was not justified because the acts from the government taking action against the fighters of the revolution like death, the churches being closed by the government, and the rights taken from the people of France during this time.

The Reign of Terror began by the public beheading by guillotine of Louis XVI, This event took place on the 21st of January. As evidenced by Document F, An attendee says “The king’s blood flowed and cries of joy from eighty thousand armed men struck my ears. I saw people pass by arm in arm laughing and chatting familiarly as if they were at a festival.” (Document F.) This depicts the graphical display put on by the executioners. which is an example of the French government implementing fear tactics to rule over their people. Shortly after his wife Marie Antoinette was guillotined to death publicly. The Reign of Terror lasted 18 months. During this period a man named Maximilian Robespierre led the government. He executed a large number of people who he thought could be enemies or somewhat threats to his new fragile form of government. It was rumored that he had spies everywhere who would turn others in, just for not being enthusiastic about the revolutionaries form of government. also if an individual complained or made a comment pertaining negatively to life in France after the revolution they would be executed. His Reign of Terror not only focused upon the citizens of his country but it also focused upon specific groups. For example his Reign of Terror also focused upon the catholic church. The catholic church had been in power for a very long time, and had a very large influence on modern society and culture.

The Reign of Terror, led by Robespierre, was a frightening period during the French Revolution that occurred to bring liberty, property, and equality to the citizens of France so they could live in peace within the government. The Reign of Terror began after the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793 to late July 1794. Between those 18 long months, more than 20,000 french citizens were put to the death by the guillotine; a machine used for beheading people. The threats, methods, and ideals are the reasons for why the Reign of Terror was not justified.

The Reign of Terror was a period of violence that succeeded the beginning of the French Revolution; it was caused by conflict between two rival political parties, and tens of thousands were executed by guillotine on account of being ‘enemies of the revolution’. The French Revolution started with the storming of the Bastille, and since then the government had been in a state of constant turmoil. Civil war broke out in multiple regions and various foreign countries started attacking France on all sides; a man named Maximilien Robespierre, who belonged to a radical group known as the Jacobins, saw his chance and seized the government along with his fellow extremists. The Jacobins felt that “it was their duty to preserve the revolution, even if it meant violence and terror” which

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 screams and spirits weeped inside the walls of Versaille while the queen herself, Marie Antoinette lays on her freshly washed out white covers in sorrow. Baskets full with several heads, countless corpses, and terror, roamed the streets of France. France was in steep debt with a very high amount of starving poor civilians throughout the lowlife of the town. In addition, Louis created a severely unfair tax system by allowing only the peasants and lower class to pay taxes while the 3% of the upper class did not pay at all. The majority of France began to become angry and rebelled. A man named Maximilien Robespierre was a chief prosecutor who helped France turn on Louis and had him executed. Louis’ execution on January 21, 1793 was start of a 19 month period known as “The Reign of Terror” led by Maximilien. The Reign of Terror was not justified because the lack of rights given to the people, the amount of deaths, and the abstraction of power.

In France, the social classes consisted of three estates: First, Second, and Third. The First Estate consisted of the clergy (religious officials), who were considered the highest on the social ladder. They only consisted of .5% of the population yet were the most powerful (Doc. 2). The Second Estate were 1.5% of the population and consisted of nobles who held the top jobs of government, army, and courts (Doc. 2). Finally, The Third Estate were 98% of the population and consisted of the bourgeoisie, or the middle class, and peasants (Doc. 2). When the Estates

There were three Estates during the French Revolution. The First Estate was, the Clergy, it consisted of those employed by the Catholic Church. They had great influence in France, controlling vast amounts of land and were exempt from taxes. The Second Estate, the Nobility, were also exempt from most of the king taxes. They had the best and highest paid jobs in the army, church, and legal professions. The Third Estate, encompassing all the other people not in the other classes. This held the biggest percent of the population and had the greatest economic and social diversity. The vast amount of people in the Third Estate were starved and ragged because of the ever-increasing taxes they had to pay. Because the other two estates did not have to pay taxes, this made it even more difficult for the peasants to survive. The constitution also made the king the absolute

During the time of the French revolution people of the first estate, second estate, and citizens who work for the said estates, were generally murdered violently either by mob attacks or the Guillotine. The citizens of the third estate essentially wanted revenge on these people. The guillotine originally was used by the first estate to punish the lower class, for example; if a citizen from the third estate did not pay their taxes or they somehow “disrespected” a leader of power they would be sent, as punishment, to the guillotine and be put to death. Ironically, throughout the duration of the French revolution, the citizens who were previously affected by this tyranny used the same tactics in order to create social reform. The citizens of the first estate would brutally force people of power to death or subdue them to violent torture. An example of this could be when a man named Flouon justly needed to be punished for crimes he had committed however the mob of citizens brutally murder him by hanging him on a lamppost and then putting “his head [upon] a pike”(II.22.223). In addition to this, another example of the violence and brutality committed in order to create social reform is The Storming of the Bastille. The Bastille was a prison in France, which essentially represented the authority of the upper estates, many low-class citizens were imprisoned there for unjust reasons. the time of the French revolution came around the citizen liberating the prison not only freed prisoners, they killed many of the authority residing there unjustly and

The French Revolution (1789-1814) was a period that affected the outcome of world history tremendously. This is considered a major turning point in European history which has led to dramatic changes in France and other regions of the world. Various social and political issues led to the start of the revolution. Politically, France suffered under the rule of Louis XVI, who ruled by absolute monarchy. Many people had their natural rights renounced and weren’t able to have a political voice. Socially, France had divided its population within 3 estates (classes). French citizens took it upon themselves to remodel their country 's’ political structure. The French Revolution had encountered both positive and negative effects. However, many Europeans viewed the Revolution as much more than just a bloody massacre. The French Revolution was used to demonstrate new ideology that would emphasize the principles of liberty and equality throughout Europe.

The first estate was the Roman Catholic clergy. The second estate was made up of nobles. The third estate consisted of the Bourgeoisie, the sans culottes, and the peasants. This system kept power, money and status mainly with the monarchy, and first and second estates. It was the third estate, lead by the Bourgeoisie who was tired of the unfair system in France that finally took action July 14, 1789 when they stormed the

The Estates-General of 1789 was the foundation in establishing the three estates. The creation of the three estates, or the idea of the estates, was to lower the debt and financial issues that the French obtained, due to the 7 years’ war and the American Revolution, but also to promote those in the higher class as well as keep those citizens in a much towering level over the common people. According to Peter McPhee’s Liberty or Death: The French Revolution, 1789-1799, the first meeting, to creating the three estates, was in the year of 1614, when the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French estates of the dominion took place. The three estates consisted of a higher social class, a royalty class, and a common people

Throughout the history of France, the Second Estate has primarily included the nobility of society. This encompassed all of those who were treated as royalty, other than the reigning monarch, who stood outside of the estates system. The Second Estate was considered to be an exclusive class within the confines of legal society. Those who were apart of this exclusivity were differentiated by their concern for the traditional social values, the traditional landownership, fiscal privilege, and ancient

During the Old Regime, the society of France was split into three estates. The imbalance of these three estates were due to the centuries of royal absolutism which controlled France. So, the third, poorest state rose up against the second and first, which sparked the beginning of the French Revolution on June the 17th, 1789. The first estate which consisted of the clergy, who paid tithe and owned 10% of land were targeted and claimed to be the reason for the festering urban and rural poverty. There was also the claim that the second estate who also has a part in this, as they consisted of the nobility and was classified as the ‘rich land owners’ who owned 30% of the land. The lower class of society, which included the peasants, artisans (craftsmen), land owning