Bang! Bang! It’s the sound of French Revolution beginning. French Revolution was a war that lasted from 1789-1799. It all started with King Louis XVI was not a commendable king. He had poor leadership skills and that was what led to many of the causes of the French Revolution as well as the effects. Long story short, it all began with the three social class system. France was divided into the three social estates. The first estate was the clergy, then the nobility, and the lowest estate, the commoners, also known as the peasants and bourgeoisies. For instance, in document 4, it shows a picture of the clergy and nobility standing on a rock with a bourgeoisie under it. He’s not a peasant because he’s better dressed than the peasants. This picture symbolizes how the nobility and clergy are far more powerful than the commoner. The difference between a peasant and bourgeoisie is that the bourgeoisie is literate unlike the peasant. However, they were both treated immorally. The clergy and nobility all have a say in things and can all vote individually. On the other hand, the commoners all together had one vote and …show more content…
“The lack of bread is terrible. Stories arrive every moment from provinces of riots… The price of bread has risen above people’s ability to pay. This causes great misery.” (Document 3) Due to the high prices of bread, many problems occurred. People that couldn’t afford for bread would die of starvation over time and there were many riots over bread. In addition to high prices on bread, King Louis XVI also raised taxes on the commoners. This made the commoners extremely upset because they were paying far more taxes than the clergy and nobility. As mentioned in document 3,“Lands held by the nobility are taxed very little. Lands held by the commoners are taxed very heavily.” Overall, the commoners strongly distrusted the king and felt that his doings were
“Bread Riots in France” 0. Browning, Dispatches from Paris (Doc.5) shows that the rising in the price of bread made the citizens of the third class mad. On November 27, 1788 when the price of bread rose and the bakers had to shut down shops and public magazines of wheat have been broken open a pillaged. Then on December 11, 1788 when the price of bread rose again. It was cold and the people where hungry
Taxes, which is still a commonly disagreed topic, were a major reason the people of France revolted. The members of the first estate were paying only a fraction of what the members of the third and event the second were. Arthur Young, a man who travelled through France from 1787 to 1789, made the observation that land owned by nobility and people of the upper class was taxed very little compared to the land owned by common citizens (Doc. 1). This injustice took a great toll on members of the third estate and
The high taxes, high prices on goods, and unequal distribution of wealth in France were reasons why the French Revolution started. There were three estates in France; the first estate was the clergy, the second estate were the nobles, and the third estate was made up of of three groups; average French workers, Bourgeoisie, and peasants. The French Revolution led to many wars; Louis XVI was a very weak leader, and he was executed. Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor, and the revolution came to an end. The main causes of the French Revolution were the difficult life of the peasants; the issues between the three estates; and the unfairness of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
The country was in an economic depression as I mentioned before, mostly from the American War which skyrocketed France’s debt by more than half (Doc E). Prices and taxes rose on the third estate. The income was 471.6 million livers while Louis spent 633.1 million livers. He put 261.1 livers into interest on debt but because he was spending so much on war and court luxuries the country only went into more debt (Doc K). The French budget was on the verge of collapse, unemployment was rising, and there were food shortages.
The American Revolution was also known as the war of independence. In the 1775 and 1783 there was a fight between thirteen british colonies and their mother country was England. At the time England was the strongest country. The american revolution was revolutionary. War took place, The American Revolution caused a war it took place between 1775 and 1783.
Within the 25 years between 1775 and 1800 there were two revolutions that changed the world and the way the world looked at governmental structures. The American Revolution started in 1775 and lasted until 1783 and was a battle for the 13 colonies in the Americas to gain their independence from Britain (Sheidley). The second revolution was the French Revolution which took place between 1789 and 1799. The French Revolution was primarily between the third and the second estates of France but that is not to say that the first estate escaped unscathed (Blaufarb). This Revolution was an upheaval of the political and social structures in France.
Many reasons triggered the people’s general discontent, over taxing, inequality, years of feudal oppression, and corruption which led to eagerness of rebellion. Politically speaking, the autocratic monarchy, excessive spending and poor administration. On the social aspect, common people became rebellious after learning their rights and feeling treated unequal. Economically, the country was left in bankruptcy after poor administration and useless wars. All this contributed to a French society that was eagering for revolt, catapulting the french to a downward economic spiral in the late 1700’s.
King Louis XVI, who was the ruler at the time, was a main contributor to these problems that led France to its downfall. The country had a massive lack of resources and food, which led King Louis XVI to borrow more money than he could afford, thus putting the country in immense debt. Despite the very visible crisis overthrowing the country, the king was incapable of accepting his mistakes and refused to change his ways. He maintained the unjust voting system, known as the Estates-General, and worsened the taxing system in order to pay off his debts. The people, especially those of the Third Estate, were clearly angry and dissatisfied with the state of the country, which led them seek out a movement for what was right.
The Peasants (or more known as the lower class) are the people that are the poorest and were taxed massives amount of money just to live. They would also aid the king but doing daily chores for them or even grow crops and being forced to give away their crops. This type of government that the people of England were facing was called Feudalism. Feudalism is a dominant social system that took place in Medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in return for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants were forced to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection. The relationship between the lords and vassal was a mutual relationship but was very messed up in the peasants part.
The main difference between the American and French Revoultion was that one successfully converted to a democratic government and one did not. The French Revolution was not successful in forming a democratic government due to France’s history of a monarchy, economic issues and divison among its’ people. Unlike America, France had a long history of sole rulers and dictatorship which made the change to a democratic government much more difficult and ultimately impossible. America’s motto of “all men are created equal” (Doc A) was the complete opposite of France’s dividing estate class system. The third estate consisted of peasents, common people and the bourgeoisie, the second estate belonged to the Nobles, and the first was the home to the Clergy.
He did make several bad decisions that endangered France and contributed to the beginning of the French Revolution. However, he is not entirely to blame due to several other highly contributing factors. King Louis XVI’s youth and immaturity hindered his rule and forced him to make irrational decisions which contributed to the beginning French Revolution. King Louis XVI was only a young boy when his elder brother died in 1761 and his father who died in 1765, soon after his grandfather died leaving him as heir to France. In 1770 he married Marie-Antoinette daughter of the ruler of Austria Maria Theresa.
This meant that there was a conflict of interests between the peasants and the king once more, forcing the peasants to
Everyone deserves basic human rights, such as food and fair treatment. The way the poor are oppressed and deprived of basic human rights by the French aristocracy in Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities”, justifies the need for the oncoming revolution. The luxuries that the rich have included that “ It took four men, all four men a-blaze with gorgeous decoration, and the Chief of them unable to exist with fewer than two gold watches in his pocket, emulate even of the noble and chaste fashion set by Monseigneur, to conduct the happy chocolate to Monseigneur’s lips” (Dickens 105). They were taking money that could be spent helping the poor and frittering it away on useless extravagances. The poor could barely afford enough food to keep themselves and their families alive, and they felt wronged by the disparity between the social classes.
Introduction I was a boy at the age of 12 when the French revolution started. We were poor and in the third estate so life wasn't as easy as it was for the others. The French revolution started in 1789 and it ended in the late 1790s. The French Revolution started because our King who was King Louis xvi needed more money. There were many other reasons besides the Financial crisis such as a large gap in between rich and poor,the middle class which lacked political power and ideas of the enlightenment all lead up to the French Revolution.
It was about lack of food and a political system that made economic contraction hardest on the poor. A good argument is often said that the early stages of the French Revolution were not all that revolutionary. There is a basis for this. In an analysis, the National Assembly wanted to create a constitutional monarchy, they believed the King was necessary for a functioning state and they were mainly concerned that voters and office holders be men of property.