Finally, After 68 years, and a few bad decisions later the people of France were starving and the country was under crippling debts that made the 3rd estate the poorest it has ever been. Even the King, Louis XVI, was very concerned about the economic state of his conutry because of it's decline over the years. So he decided to bring the Grand Council, help from the people of the three different estates, to talk about a better way to help the economic problem. King Louie XVI wanted to break the old tradition of the people in the first and second estate didn't have to pay taxes; But whenever the topic was faced the first two estsates took it down as quickly as possible making it so the Third Estate had to keep paying taxes So whenever the topic …show more content…
the men of the thrid estate found themselves locked out of the Grand Council meeting room and being fed up with the first two Estate, they moved to an open indoor tennis court and made an oath to never to separate until a written constitution had been established for France. The event was called the Tennis Court Oath and was inspired by the American Revolution's declartion of Independence. A few years before, the American Revolution had won against the British and the French people looked upon the American Revolution as a means of freedom of the goverment. They were deeply inspired and influenced into the revolution from The American Revoution. But as the tensions grow thicker in Paris, the people of Paris caught wind of a rumor that the king was sending quards to kill the people of paris but there was another rumor that a local prison, The Bastille, had gun powder in it. So in July, 14 1789, the people began to riot then and it escalated until they stormed the Bastille. They did this successfully and it showed the French government that the people of France had enough with the goverment and they were going to fight back now. The Bastille was symbol the monarchy's dictatorial rule and they took it
Louis' ministers Turgot, Necker and Calonne all agreed that France needed reforming if it was to get out of the massive debt it had accumulated. In February of 1787, Louis called the Assembly of Notables as France was in dire need of tax reform due to its debt. Louis suggested tax reforms to bring government expenditure in line with government income but because he had lost his authority as a king, he could not persuade the first and second estates to agree with a tax reform and they did not wish to bear the burden of increased taxation. This showed Louis to be weak and unable to make decisions about France's future. Shortly afterwards on the 5th May 1789, the Estates General was called and Louis' absolute power over France was all but over. This was one of the main events that led to the start of the French revolution an...
Some people like Emmanuel Sieyès, middle-class writer who was taken by the Enlightenment ideas, believed that all of French Society lay on the backs of the third estate. On the contrary, Robespierre, the monarch at the time, believed that the third estate did not have the power to do anything important to society. The third estate had to pay taxes like the Gabelle and Taille while the first and seconds estates did not have to pay any taxes to the king. Also, the third estates had less of a representation in voting. The first and second estate could outvote the third estate every time and this was a huge inequality. The condition of the third estate was horrible but a good portion of this third estate was the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie had some wealth and social class, so they influenced the rest of the third estate about their rights, while also inspiring some lower clergies and provincial nobles and thus led to a group of rebellious people to fight the monarchy. This fight for political representation and political rights was only one cause of the French Revolution. Another causes lies in the French Monarchs: Louis XlV, Louis XV, and Louis XVl. When Louis XlV was ruling, the monarchy had unlimited power and was known as a
As the monetary reserves of France deplete, the monarchy calls for the establishment of the Estates General, a representative body that is comprised of members from each estate. However, the nobles outnumber the Third Estate two votes to one, so the Third Estate advocates for additional representation. They are granted additional representation, but the vote count stays the same. Weeks of meetings pass and no progress is made, increasing the disgruntlement amongst the Third Estate. The Third Estate desires a voice while the nobles want to maintain their privileges. Finally, the Third Estate decides to take matters into its own hands. Sides are established, and the revolution
Some causes are financial crisis and high taxes, the stamp act, the war with the French, tarantella rule, and the navigation act. Symptoms are angry protesters. In the national assembly each estat got 1 vote and each member received a note. The Tennis Court Oath swore to create a new constitution and Oath taken at the tennis courts to make a better government for French. Storming of the Bastille, King Louis use military force to break up the National Assembly, by the people. The guards were hacked to death and heads out on display. This became the ultimate symbol that the revolution had ...
Both of these combined created a further debt for France. King Louis wanted to increase the taxes of the Third Estate to pay off the debts, which made the peasants even angrier, which will be talked about in the next paragraph. King Louis came into power at the age of 20, and he put most of the financial duties to Turgot, one of the best statesmen. When he finally realized the French Revolution was a big problem, all his attempts to stop it were all in vain because he didn’t know what to do since he had entrusted most of his responsibilities to the people below him.... ...
The French Revolution started in 1787 because the country was going through financial difficulties and there was unrest between the classes of citizens in the country. The differences between the lower class citizens and higher classes, being nobles and the monarchy were great. The citizens had heard of the revolution that went on in the colonies and they also wanted freedom and independence. The real start of the French Revolution was on July 14, 1789, with the storming of the Bastille. Between 1789 1793, a constitution was written, feudalism was abolished, war had broken out, and King Louis XVI was put to death. In late 1793 and early 1794, Maximilien Robespierre became the head of the Committee of Public Safety in France. This was the new governing body in France; it could be compared to the executive branch of a government. Robespierre was a great leader, he ins...
The Enlightment was one of the causes because it inspired ideas of freedom and equality. This means that some of the government’s power would be lost.
Three days prior to the symbolic start of the French Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette (who was recognized as the Nobility because of his relation to the king through marriage) brought attention to the needs of the common people by introducing the importance of declaration of rights for man. On July 14, 1789 the common people of France had enough with King Louis XVI's inability to recognize and address the declining living conditions, horrible financial situation, and food shortages that were ruling their lives. They decided to take a stand for themselves and the equality they deserved and by doing this they stormed the Bastille. The need for an overall foundation of basic human rights was finally put into action.
The. The hostile environment that King Louis XVI and the nobles created in France led to a revolution. Louis hired two renowned French economists to try and balance the budget, but they both told him the same thing: he needs to tax the nobles. Louis was a pushover, so when he brought the idea up to the nobles, and they told him no, he conceded. After pressure from the Parlement of Paris, Louis called in the French equivalent to Parliament, the Estates General after over 100+ years of adjournment to force the nobles to pay up.
Prior to the revolution, King Louis XVI was at the top of the ancien régime, the social, economic, and political structure in France, which means he had absolute power. When he received the throne in 1774, it came along with insoluble problems. The people were split into three estates which divided social class. The first estate consisted of 100,000 tax exempt nobles who owned 20% of the land. The second estate consisted of the 300,000 tax exempt clergy who owned 10% of the land. The third estate consisted of the remaining 23.5 million French people who were 90% peasants. The third estate was the only estate that paid taxes. Their taxes ensured the financial well-being of the clergy, state, and nobles (French Revolution Overview 6).
The first underlying cause of the French Revolution was the Old Regime. The people of France were divided into three estates. The first estate was composed of the highest church officials. They held about ten percent of all the land in France. They paid no direct taxes to the royal government. The second estate was made up of nobles. They were only two percent of France’s population, but owned twenty percent of the land. They paid no taxes (Krieger 483). The third estate accounted for ninety-eight percent of France’s population. The third estate was divided into three groups; the middle class, known as the bourgeoisie, the urban lower classes, and the peasant farmers. The third estate lost about half their income in taxes. They paid feudal dues, royal taxes, and also owed the corvee, a form of tax paid with work (Krieger 484).
Both the First and Second Estates had huge privileges which allowed them to lead a much more carefree life than those in the Third Estate. The First estate had financial privileges, such as being exempt from taxes such as the taille (the main French direct tax). Instead of paying taxes, the First Estate made an annual payment to the crown, known as a don gratuit or ‘free gift’. It was always much less than they would have paid in normal taxation and was under 5% of clerical income.
The peasant women who bought the food really revolted against the high prices. The French Revolution’s riots started on July 12th, and on July 14th. storming of the Bastille (royal prison) that symbolized the depotism of the Bourbons) because of the provocative acts of Louis XXVI. Suspicions also grew. around Marie Antoinette that she was in constant communication with her brother.
According to Causes of French Revolution: Political, Social and Economic Causes. (2015, August 08). This proves that the third estate (lower class) payed all the taxes, the first and second estate (clergies and nobles) did not pay any taxes and kept their hands off. The poor paid one tenth of their money and were played by the other two classes. Now, in modern day France, all men are treated equally and everyone pays from the highest to the lowest
The people of the Third Estate were also being treated unfairly and unjustly. The tax system was another contribution of the revolution. The nobles and clergy would tax the rest of the people by voting. Since the people were divided into sections, each section would count as one vote, despite the fact that the First and Second Estate was only made up of two percent of the population. Also, the nobles and clergy were usually exempt from paying the taxes. This made the people angry. The tax system resulted in the Tennis Court Oath. Members of the Third Estates met there to gather and talk about the problems.