What Are The Social Causes Of The French Revolution

The French Revolution had many causes. Before the French Revolution in 1789 the third estate had been taxed heavily, living in poverty, and dealing with starvation while the King and Queen remained ignorant about how they lived. The social issues and poor economy had led to the French Revolution. The ideas spreading, the influence of the American revolution, and the overpopulation of the third estate were main social causes while the main economic causes were the queen over-spending, and the heavy taxes on the people.

One cause of the French Revolution were the social impacts of the enlightenment, the American Revolution, and social issues that had been there for a long time. As shown by document 2, the first and second estate made up a small percentage

of the population while the third estate made up a majority of the population. This shows how over-populated the third estate was compared to the others. Over-population had led to starvation because there was not enough food for everyone. The starvation eventually led to riots which caused anarchy and a loss of order. Another social cause of the French Revolution was the spread of enlightenment ideas. This was shown in document 4 when Mathiez states “The revolution had been accomplished in the minds of men long before it was translated into fact…” This shows that the people already had the idea of taking a stand against the government way before they actually had. If it weren’t for this idea of freedom, the revolution might have never happened. In document 5 Acton stated “…[but] the spark that changed thought into action was supplied by the Declaration of American Independence… The American example caused the Revolution to break cut…” This quote shows how the American Revolution inspired the French to take action. The French saw how the colonists had stood up against the British for the same reasons they had to start the revolution.
The ideas at this time and the the inspiration from the American Revolution led the French to have a revolution to fix the problems coming up and the ones that they had always had.
The poor condition of France’s economy from long expensive wars, and Queen Marie Antoinette constantly spending money with no budget had also sparked the beginning of the French Revolution.

Young, the author of document 1 stated “The lack of bread is terrible. Stories arrive every moment from the provinces of riots… The price of bread has risen above people’s ability to pay. This causes great misery.” This shows how the people being taxed so heavily led to them having no money for food which led to violence and starvation. This anarchy led to the people realizing how unfair their government is, and how something must be done. The heavy taxes the people paid did not even benefit them, these taxes were being used to support the Americans and pay for Marie Antoinette’s extravagant lifestyle and expensive tastes.

Most of the causes of the French Revolution were the social issues and economic issues. The information spreading at the time and the crumbling economy led the people to see how they are being exploited by the government and should make a change somehow. The French Revolution is important because it is an example of how the people should not be taken advantage of and should have a say in their everyday

lives.