French Revolution Dbq Essay

685 Words3 Pages

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

More about French Revolution Dbq Essay

Open Document