Third Estate Recommendations

“The Tennis Court Oath” is a painting that depicts the swearing of an oath by members mainly from the third estate, but also some from the first and second that had sided with the third. Just days before, the estates had been called by the king to a meeting of the Estates General, where the representatives from each estate gathered at the palace Versailles to discuss important matters proposed by the king. The Estates General had not met in over 150 years, but the king needed their approval for him to raise taxes to

Moving on to the time period of this document this document was written March 1, 1789 a couple months before the storming of the Bastille. Thus, at this time in history there was a significant amount of commotion arising from the people of the Third Estate. The people of the Third Estate were trying to voice their opinions on the oppressive political and economic situations occurring at this time in France in order to try and bring about a reform. These oppressive political and economic situations that the Third Estate were trying to reform included things such as the king heavily taxing only the Third Estate, who already did not even have the finances to survive let alone pay these high taxes. Another example is the fact that the Third Estate did not have equal representatives in the political society to represent their wants and demands in comparison to the First and Second Estates, which can be seen through out Cahier de Doleance’s, Villagers of Lion-en-Sullias, Women of Paris, Flower Sellers, and Village of Pithiviers-le-Vieil. Cahier de Doleance’s, District of Mansigne. Not only does this text help historians and the reader get a better understanding of the specific wants of the Third Estate but the rest of his documents such as Villagers of Lion-en-Sullias, Women of Paris, Flower Sellers, and

Unfortunately for France and the cause of freedom, resistance from the Court and special interests proved too powerful, and Turgot was removed from office in 1776. "The dismissal of this great man," wrote Voltaire, "crushes me. . . . Since that fatal day, I have not followed anything . . . and am waiting patiently for someone to cut our throats.? Turgot's successors, following a mercantilist policy of government intervention, only made the French economy worse. In a desperate move to find money in the face of an uproar across the country and to re-establish harmony, Louis XVI agreed to convene the Estates-General for May 1789. Meanwhile, the king's new finance minister, Jacques Necker, a Swiss financial expert, delayed the effects of mercantilism by importing large amounts of grain. On May 5, the Estates-General convened at Versailles. By June 17, the Third Estate had proclaimed itself the National Assembly. Three days later, the delegates took the famous Tennis Court Oath, vowing not to disband until France had a new constitution. However, the real French Revolution began not

The revolution developed rapidly in the months May to October 1789, sparked by the King’s refusal to put forward a programme of reform in order to satisfy the Third Estate during the meeting of the Estates General on the 5th May 1789. Consequently, the Third Estate assembled in order to take the Tennis Court Oath agreeing not to disperse until France had a Constitution. Fearing his position was being threatened by the radical Third Estate, Louis contemplated using military force and ordered the stationing of 20000 troops round Paris in preparation to dissolve the National Assembly by force if necessary. On the 11th July 1789, Louis made the mistake of dismissing Jacques Necker, who was not only popular with the Third Estate but

In the late 17th Century, the French Revolution began. The French Revolution was a rebellion of the third estate against the inequality and injustice of the social classes. The high economic gap and social inequality led to reforms such as the drafting of the Declaration of Rights for Men and the Tennis Court of Oath. One of the main factors that led to the French Revolution is the economic gaps between the rich and the poor.

During 1789 and decades prior, peasants toil in the fields and reap the diminishing wheat stalks. Bound by the law set by the king, they suffered paying the nobility’s and clergy’s expenses with whatever income they had. When not in desperate poverty, the Third Estate would muster any energy to exert disdain to their king, indifferent behind palace walls. With Voltaire's and Rousseau's conceptions, commoners imagined a government where the nation was in potency, not the monarch. Yet, King Louis XVI taunts this bubbling tension by claiming these privileges were well-deserved, insinuating that his people were literal breadwinners, obligated to pay tribute. With high tax rates, a radical government where the people were free of ridicule circulated

The Tennis Court Oath was created purely to balance society once again and lift some of the weight of the taxes off the population. The beginning events of the French Revolution were wholly due to the taxation of the third estate. The American revolution was caused by taxation that was perceived as unconstitutional, while the French revolution was caused by the over taxation of the third estate and the lack of taxation in the first two estates. In both situations taxation angered the general people, moving them to act in order to make a statement to their governing bodies so that they would understand the need for change.

“Give me liberty, or give me death,” proclaimed the revolutionary activist Patrick Henry as he and his fellow Americans fought towards an independent nation free from the monarchical Britain. With the American revolution, King Louis XVI sent French soldiers to America to purposely aid the new country, but accidentally implanted the idea for revolution in France, too. As the rising debt and unjust taxation of France climbed even higher, the Third Estate of France declared themselves the new lawmakers of France with these French soldiers from America instituting key revolutionary ideas. In June 1789, this Tennis Court Oath started the monstrously long attempt the French made to institutionalize their own freedom, liberty, and equality. Parisians

The Third Estate, treated unfairly in society, became angered and wanted simple equalities that the other Estates had. In

The Cahiers de doléances in 1789 was a representation of the values and concerns that the city of Carcassone had in the period leading up to the French Revolution. In particular, it portrayed the changes sought by the Third Estate in an era where social and financial privileges were dominated by the nobility. By assessing the historical framework of France and its absolutist monarchy it will be determined how revolutionary were the demands of the Third Estate.

The French Revolution was a period of time from 1789 to 1799 in France where there was political instability. It officially began on the 14th of July, 1789, when the Bastille, which was a symbol of the King’s harsh policies, was stormed. The King, Louis XVI, the Queen, Marie-Antoinette and about 40,000 people were all brutally murdered. But there was also a positive side, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was formally adopted on August 1789 and feudalism was abolished. This essay will address the issues of the three estates system, food shortages and the fiscal crisis. It will also be argued that the most significant cause of the French Revolution was the social inequality that stemmed from the three estates system.

Through my initial investigation I discovered a painting of the Tennis Court Oath, by Jacques Louis David, and a book, The Age of Revolution, written by Eric Hobsbawm. The Tennis Court Oath depicts the pledge of the Third Estate to write their own constitution against the Estates General, and the book contains a small analysis of the French Revolution. The Age of Revolution analyses the more radical parts of the French Revolution, with some insight into the Jacobin objectives.

For the first part of the analysis, I will be giving information about the Tennis Court Oath itself so the picture will make more sense. On the day of June 20, the Third Estate got locked out of their meeting place. A man named Joseph-Ignace Guillotin had the suggestion to meet in the indoor tennis court that was nearby. About 600 deputies met while the president of the Third Estate, named Jean-Sylvain Bailly, proclaimed the Tennis Court Oath. The Tennis Court Oath declared in writing their pledge to governing themselves. This declaration set in motion the French Revolution! For this time, this was a radical change and it would spark the idea of a constitutional monarchy. The idea of a constitutional monarchy was unspoken about in France during

And he relies, everything. He argued that because the third estate carries out all the labor required to maintain France and that the third estate makes up a complete nation. He calls the first and second estates a form a cancer as they do not add anything to the civil order like the third estate does, he later states “The noble order is no less foreign amongst up by reason of its civil and public prerogatives.” He knows that the first and second estate do not pay taxes of any kind, yet they are the main beneficiaries from the king. He calls the first and second estates a cancer that must be removed from a society so that the society may remain healthy, “It is impossible to say what place the two privileged orders ought to occupy in the social order…what place one wishes to assign to a malignant tumor.” The Divine Chain of Being which gave a natural order to the world was now called into question and rejected entirely because of the French Revolution.

“The revolution which has been effected in France is of so wonderful a nature that the mind can hardly recognize the fact” (Washington, 1789). This moment in history was a tremendous feat for the French citizen who believe in equality and not an individual that are power hungry and selfish. Rebelling against the royals and nobles was high level of thinking because the commoners were distraught about the outcome. As can be seen, in a medieval society, people worried about the outcome, which is why religion was a big part during that era, but there had to have been some revelation that this is not right. That is what the Tennis Court Oath was comprised of, commoners who believe that the nobility is taking the high road and letting the commoners