Throughout the course of history, economic, social, and political issues occasionally led to the revolt of citizens against their government. When the Old Regime held power in France the people were categorized into three estates. The Third Estate began the French Revolution due to the social, economic, and political problems they faced. Additionally the Third Estate caused the end of the old Regime with the storming of the Bastille. Overall the French Revolution impacted the lives of people in France and people in varying nations of the world.
To begin with the social inequality of France was one of the three major causes of the French Revolution. Under the power of the Old Regime the social class system included three estates (first, second, and the third estates). The first estate consisted of the Roman Catholic Church clergy who owned 10% of the land and made up 0.5% of the population. The second estate contained rich nobles that made up 1.5% of the population and owned 25% of the land. The first and second estates privileges included exemption from taxes and ability to hold high offices in government. On the other hand the third estate which included the bourgeoisie, urban lower class, and peasants could not hold power in high offices and
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The economy of France appeared as though it was intact because production and trade was expanding rapidly. However this worried merchants, factory workers, bankers, of the Third Estate because it made it difficult to conduct business. As a result of war debts, Madame deficit, and the increase of the cost of living the Third Estate was burdened with many taxes. These taxes included dues to the nobles, tithes to the church, and taxes to the king’s agents. Additionally, bad weather and crop failures caused a shortage of grain, resulting in the price of bread doubling. Because many could not afford the cost of bread people died of
The high costs of maintaining the army and navy exacerbated the situation, along with the lavish lifestyle of King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie-Antoinette. Louis appointed Charles de Calonne as comptroller-general to solve France’s financial crisis. Calonne knew that the only way to get France out of debt was to fairly distribute the tax burden among the three estates. Of course, this did sit well with the nobility and Calonne was dismissed after giving his presentation at the Assembly of Notables. In a desperate act, Louis called the Estates General. The Estates General was an ancient practice that had not been called since 1614. Events there would prove to be the beginning of the revolution proper. France suffered under years of inept and self-serving monarchs. Louis XVI was preceded by his grandfather, Louis XV. It was his loss of public opinion and war spending that put his grandson in such a precarious position in the years after his reign. The rule of Louis XVI would prove to be a doomed one. He was ousted after a comparatively short 17 years. The outdated political system gave way to a constitutional monarchy, and when that failed, the French Republic. This Republic however would not prove to last. Feudalism was the whole of existence for rural commoners in the time before the revolution. Farmers had no right to the land they worked and lived on. Serfs were beholden to their manor lord
Before the revolution France was ruled under the Ancien Regime system, meaning the country and all its people were under the reign of an absolute monarch. This was a tradition that had been upheld through the years and the Royal family had enjoyed a life funded by the people of France, the royal family’s lifestyle unaffected by the situation outside their palace. The Palace, Versailles, was built by king Louis XIV and the expenses for building this “village” was very high, and in later years the cost for its upkeep would play a significant role in Frances financial difficulties. In order for these difficulties to be overcome France needed a tax reform. The government had a very high tax rate on the poorest of their people, the Third Estate, and they were still not getting enough money to get out of their
The French Revolution was a time of period where social and political was a disruption in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799. This time of period affected Social Structure of France prior to the French Revolution. The factors that caused this revolution was due to having a bad government system, weak superiority, and inequality of the classes of people in France during the war. In this research, I will define and explain how Social Structure contributed to the French Revolution Resentment of royal authoritarianism. The three estates that social structure consists of are first estate which are the clergies, second estate known as the Nobleman, and third estate which are the Bourgeoisie, peasants, and workers. The Revolution did not omit sharp distinctions among the social groups, neither did it alter the distribution of wealth. This caused them to divide into these three groups called as estates.
The primary causes of the American Revolution were because of the unjust treatment of the colonists. The French and Indian War was extremely expensive for Britain, so to pay off the debt they decided to tax the American colonies. Several taxes were created, one of them was the Stamp Act. This act required the colonists to pay taxes on every piece of paper that was used, such as legal documents, licenses, newspapers, ship’s papers, etc.
Prompt: What Causes led to the French Revolution? There were many causes that led to the French Revolution but before you can know that you first have to know what the French Revolution was. The French Revolution was a period of far reaching and social and political upheacel in France that lasted from 1789-1799(10years), and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of French Empire. So now that you know what the French Re olution is I am now able to tell you the causes that led to the French Revolution. Based on the DBQ'S the causes that led to the French Revolution was the corrupt political & social system, American Rights, and the population.
Based off of documents 3, 4 and 12, one can understand how the taxes impacted a family’s ability to buy basic necessities. Due to such heavy taxes, many people were poor or were forced to become beggars. Documents 10 and 15 describes how the workingman spends most of his money on basic items to survive and taxes but goes over his budget while the king spends a lot of money on personal desires and goes over his budget as well. This contributes to the financial crisis that France was in because the nobility and the commoners were spending more money than they already
The citizens of the 3rd estate and some citizens in the 2nd estate in France during 1789, were not happy at all. They were getting heavily taxed by Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, and the Catholic Church. When they didn’t have the money to pay the taxes that was forced upon them. After all of the hard work they put in to growing crops, the crops were taken
During the 1700s, France’s government was run by a three system estate system. The First Estate was made up by the powerful clergy members, while the Second Estate was made with nobles. Peasants and working men made the Third Estate, also the largest estate. In this large estate there was a little class named the Bourgeoisie was a part of the Third Estate. Though the Bourgeoisie was highly educated and always had stable professions, they were not set aside from the peasants. The Third Estate was treated very poorly during the 1700s. Life was not suitable for the working class. The mistreatment and inequality led to the French Revolution. Inequality during this time period meant that things were not the same throughout each class. Unequal power between the estates, abuse of the Third Estate, and the taxes and price raises were the three reasons that outweighed the many political, social, and economic factors that led to the French Revolution.
One of the most important causes of the French Revolution was the French system of taxation. According to document one, there was an “injustice in levying the amount each person must pay. Lands held by the nobility were taxed very little. Lands held by commoners were taxed heavily.” This means that the third estate was responsible for paying most of the country’s taxes, while the first and second estates, were responsible for very little. Since the third estate was responsible to pay the most in taxes, they began to suffer the most. The taxes caused them to not be able to afford simple necessities in life, such as bread. This injustice caused the people to want to reform their economic situation by finding a way to avoid strangling taxes and make the first two estates contribute to a failing economy.
One of the other ways in which the Revolution affected the rise of modernity was by asserting the importance of the middle class and masses. Before the revolution, France was made up of three estates: The First Estate was the Church, which made up 1-2% of the population, the Second Estate was the nobility which made up less than 2% of the population and the Third Estate was the commoners, which made up approximately 96% of the population. Whereas the First and Second estates enjoyed luxury, extensive privileges and great wealth, the Third Estate were the heavily taxed and poorly treated bourgeoisie, peasants and city workers. One of the reasons the revolution originated was the discontent among the lower and middle classes in France. Those in the Third Estate grew tired of the unjust laws and taxes they were forced to
The French Revolution occurred from 1789 to 1799. A major issue during this time period in France was social classes, which included the First, Second, and Third Estate. The First and Second Estate had freedom, rights, and equality while the Third Estate had almost nothing. Third Estate got no recognition for their work, while the French Church had problems with voting, and salaries. The Third Estate formed the National Assembly to write The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and The Civil Constitution of the Clergy. They wrote them to help fix the problems that caused the revolution. The causes of the French revolution are the French Church, the inequality of the Estates, and the minimal freedom and rights that the Third Estate has.
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 final group of the Old Regime was the third estate. This was France’s workforce. These people made up ninety-seven percent of the population, but were only allotted seventy percent of the land. The third estate had sub-groups of its own. The first group was the Bourgeoisie. This translates into “city dwelling” but is commonly known as the middle class. Those that made p this group were doctors, lawyers, and merchants. These people were fairly well off and had a bit of extra money. The main difference between the Bourgeoisie and the others in the third estate was that the Bourgeoisies were educated, specifically in enlightenment ideas. They later helped to steer the French Revolution. The next group within the third estate was laborers and artisans. This group consisted of the skilled craftsman in society. Along with the others in the third estate, they had low wages and high taxes. The third group of the third estate was the peasants. Making up roughly eighty percent of the population, the peasants were at the bottom of society. They lost nearly half their wages to taxes even though they had miniscule wages in the first place. They were forced to pay a tax to the church (tithe) and could not influence society. They disliked the first estate because they were the tax collectors and the second estate because they were the government officials. They fought this by
The French Revolution was a period of long ending causes and it led to many long-lasting conditions in France including political, social and economic conditions. The French revolution was significant because it led to the end of the old monarchy. The important causes of the French Revolution were the old regime, economic hardships, and the American Revolution. Thus, economic hardships, the old regime and the American Revolution were the important causes of the French Revolution.
The majority were already struggling with the cost of living, and the addition of extra taxes caused it to be near impossible for them to survive financially. This angered the third estate, and provided an incentive for the revolution. Therefore, it is evident that the social inequality that derived from the three estates system was the most significant cause of the French Revolution.