After many years of unhappiness with the monarchy, the French citizens started a rebellion. This rebellion, called the French Revolution, had several causes, most of which related to a society that favored the rich. The quality of life for members of the third estate in France was very low. Those who were poor were very poor. They were forced to pay a considerable amount of taxes to the lords. Due to this large sum of money, those part of the third estate struggled to provide themselves. In most cases, buying food was nearly impossible (Doc 1). On top of that, the third estate was forced to live on little land. Unlike with the first and second estates, the population of the third estate was not proportionate to the amount of living space (Doc 2). Members of the third estate had enough of living in those conditions. The government refused to help them, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. …show more content…
There were “abuses and tyranny” (Doc 3). The third estate was constantly being overpowered by the first and second estates (Doc 7). As a result, the third estate demanded equal representation. They wanted each member to be counted during votes. This request was denied. According to Locke, the duty of the government is to protect the natural rights of the people. If the legislation failed, the people had the right to overturn it. The French Revolution is an example of this happen. Citizens who were part of the third estate believed that the government was not looking out for their best reasons, so they started a revolution to change