By the late eighteenth century, France a country full of tension divided into three estates was on the brink of revolution. In the 17 to the 18 century the despiteful villages of France had no clemency from the nobles or clergy.It was disastrous for the peseants when they paid the immence levy. The absolute monarchy meant nobles had complete authority over peasants. In addition the enlightenment thinkers, Voltaire, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu and more encourage change which lead to the French revolution. To begin, although the third estate (peasants, 90% percent of the population) was the poor estate they had to pay high taxes. This can be clarified in source B …show more content…
The king allowed nobles to have authority over peasants, not only that but the nobles had the choice to do military service; unlike the peasants who had no choice. The king exempt nobles from most taxes, and allowed nobles to collect tolls from people using roads and markets. This allowed many nobles and clergy to live in great luxury chateaux and palaces. Another thing that made the peasants angry was the yearly incomes, the Archbishop of Paris was making 50,000 livres and Marquis de Mannevillette was making 20,000 livres. Meanwhile a typical village priest was making 750 livres and a master carpenter made 200 livres, specifically you can see the yearly income and compare it your self. That was total abuse! In source A, a cartoon of 1789 shows a peasant carrying the burden of maintaining the feudal lords and the clergy. The caption reads “one hopes this will end …show more content…
High taxes, oppression, and the idea of the Enlightenment thinkers who promoted change. A problem with high taxes and oppression was that the peasant had low wages, few farm animals, and few land, Arthur Young was a witness There was no way for the peasants not to get angry about high taxes. Absolute monarchy, can always depend on who’s the ruler. In the case of the French revolution; the peasants had a selfish and cruel ruler. As a result there was the French revolution. The nobles and clergy were having all the advantages because they were favored by the king and again that didn’t work out well, that just made the peasants even angrier. At last the enlightenment thinkers wrote their ideas of what they believed and the peasant agree Not only was it convenient for the peasant, it also inspired most of the peasants to stand up and fight for their right. In conclusion I say it was time for a revolution and of course after the riots France knew it was only time for a
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 French Revolution occurred because of political, social, and economic inequalities within France. Unfair taxing in France contributed to starting the French Revolution because the third estate had to pay the most, despite the fact that they were the poorest class. The third estate had to give about 50% of their income to paying taxes, while the first and second estate had to pay less than 10% (Doc 2). This caused the third estate to start to go hungry, and lots of tension was building up.
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).
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.
Have you ever wondered how a king can be so terrible that his own people want him dead? The French Revolution stemmed from people's demands that were influenced by Enlightenment ideals. These ideals were the positions and thoughts the Enlightenment philosophers supported. With the influence of Enlightenment ideals people wanted more. John Locke, an English philosopher, had ideas that influenced revolutions, more notably, the French Revolution.
French Revolution was a major revolt of French citizens turning against the traditional values of the monarchy. People realized the unfairness of the state of France and demanded change causing a major disagreement between the people of France and their leaders, the clergy and the nobility. The people of France found this unfairness in multiple way those being politically, socially, and economically. They saw the power imbalance, unequal taxing, and terrible quality of life and wanted change.
The French Revolution is often considered to be the watershed moment of the modern Era. During the 1700’s there was plenty of issues going on around the world that would impact it greatly. One of the most important thing that I’d say went on around the world would be the French Revolution. The French society was fairly simple it consisted of three levels in the social system. Once you are placed in a social group you are there for life regardless of what events happen in your life.
The French Revolution, from 1789 to 1799, was a turning point in history and created enormous change. France, for centuries, had been divided into three classes; churchmen, nobility and Peasants. The nobles and churchmen had huge wealth while ordinary people were very poor. The Monarchy did not do enough to help ordinary people and this class of people became increasingly angry with their circumstances. This eventually led to an uprising by ordinary people against
The French Revolution was one of the most important historical events that occurred during the eighteenth century, developed since the first months of 1789 until the late 1790’s. This revolutionary movement drastically changed France from a Monarchy to a Republic, making Louis XVI one of the last kings of France, and Napoleon Bonaparte rise as a Republican leader. The enlightenment ideals where what triggered the general discontent among all citizens, making them want liberty, equality and fraternity. The French Revolution not only influenced its own country but it also influenced countries all around the world and in different time periods. The social classification was a general discontent among the population and a first factor to the
During the Eighteenth Century, France had an absolute monarchy with Louis XVI as king and Marie Antoinette as queen. In that time period, French society was based upon a system of Estates where the clergy made up the First Estate; the nobility comprised the Second Estate, and everyone else including professionals, peasants, and the bourgeoisie made up the Third Estate. The Third Estate was immensely unhappy with the old regime, the Estates General, and Louis XVI’s leadership. France was also in the midst of a fiscal crisis due to the American Revolution, Louis XVI’s lavish lifestyle, the Seven Years War, and the tax exemption of the First and Second Estate. Following the surge of new ideas and impactful philosophers from the Enlightenment,
The French Revolution was one of the most significant wars that changed France’s history. The Revolution started in 1789 and ended in 1799 and was mainly initiated by the conditions affecting the Third Estate. Louis XVI was predominately the king during this time period but little did he know that an uprising among the peasants was happening. The French Revolution was caused by the Enlightenment ideas because of the American Revolution, the knowledge of rights, and the questioning of France’s government. The American Revolution was basically the “fire” that ignited the change the Third Estate wanted to see in their country.
French society was defined by the the “Ancien Regime” the system of three estates (Clergy, Nobility, and Peasantry). The clergy and nobility were respected and had a higher position in society and the peasants were left to carry the country, by working farms, generating the wealth, and paying a large majority of taxes. This largely contributed to the tensions arising in 1780’s France. Meanwhile, France was engaged in the Age of Enlightenment people were demanding that church and state be separate, the King resigns and a new logic based system of government is to be established.
The French Revolution all began after people in France decided it was time to fight for their rights and freedom and escape the tyranny that took place and give the people more power. At the time King Louis XVI was the French king and had power from 1774 to 1792 and was later executed in 1793. In France, the people were divided into three separate social estates, clergy, nobility, and the commoner as the lowest and the highest above all of course would be the king. The Enlightenment was a movement by intellectuals who promoted reason and science, and they began to question the system in place at the time in France and they began to spread revolutionary ideas that got people thinking about change. The “French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideals” and when the ideas began to spread people were newly educated about something they never thought about, and after
It provided to the population the right of equality and everyone had a fair right to a fair trial (Cole, Symes, Coffin, & Stacey, 2012, pp. 431-432). Following this, the population still had it’s problem of food shortages and there was many revolts against the king, for example the revolt of the woman’s march towards Versailles which constituted of crowds of woman who confronted the king because of the food shortages in the country and the high prices (Cole, Symes, Coffin, & Stacey, 2012, p. 430). The revolution was mostly based on the lack of food, how the political system failed the people in many ways such as taxation and how the economic system that made the country become unstable. The 3rd estate, which constituted of local assemblies of peasants, started to make many reforms like the one where they would sell off church lands to help the economy and get rid of local elites (Cole, Symes, Coffin, & Stacey, 2012, p. 432) which were constituted of business merchants, professional, soldiers and aristocrats (Cole, Symes, Coffin, & Stacey, 2012, p. 427). The revolution wasn’t like the American
During the late 1700’s, France was in a major crisis. Both socially and economically, France was having a very hard time. This all started with King Louis XVI. He wanted money. His financial problem forced the French monarch to unwillingly gather the Estates General in order to build a new land tax that would hopefully solve this dilemma (The Beginning of the French Revolution, 1789).