Social Changes During The French Revolution

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In France in the late 1700s there was an obvious separation between the citizens based on their social class. An Estate System was used to divided the people; the First Estate was the clergy, the Second Estate were the nobles, and the Third Estate were the commoners. There were many troubling times for the people of the Third Estate in France. The commoners, merchants, and peasants were often treated unfairly by the government and people of upper classes. The Third Estate normally had to carry the weight of others shown in Document 1. They were always on the bottom out of all people and had to stay that way due to a rigid social system. If they were born into a class they must stay in that class. There was zero social mobility for anyone. The …show more content…

Different social classes wanted change during the French Revolution. Those with a lot of money and political say wanted little to no change. Those with less money and no voice in the government wanted more change. There were many different attitudes for change during the French Revolution: “ Radicals wanted to replace the monarchy. Liberals accepted the ideas of the Enlightenment and the democratic reforms of the French Revolution. Moderates wanted to maintain a monarchy but wanted to limit its powers. Royalist supported the king and wanted to maintain the monarchy. Reactionaries opposed change, and wanted to return things to way they had been” (Document 5). Many that were part of the radicals and liberals were part of the Third Estate since they wanted the most change. The Radicals wanted a republic which allows no king and citizens to elect representatives to vote for them. The Liberals wanted a democracy which allows the people to be represented by elected officials based on population. This would allow the citizens to have more say in government. Fraternity was expressed by the different who wanted or no change by sticking together on their opinions. It was time for change to be made for the

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