French Revolution Dbq Essay

During the 1700s, France’s government was run by a three system estate system. The First Estate was made up by the powerful clergy members, while the Second Estate was made with nobles. Peasants and working men made the Third Estate, also the largest estate. In this large estate there was a little class named the Bourgeoisie was a part of the Third Estate. Though the Bourgeoisie was highly educated and always had stable professions, they were not set aside from the peasants. The Third Estate was treated very poorly during the 1700s. Life was not suitable for the working class. The mistreatment and inequality led to the French Revolution. Inequality during this time period meant that things were not the same throughout each class. Unequal power between the estates, abuse of the Third Estate, and the taxes and price raises were the three reasons that outweighed the many political, social, and economic factors that led to the French Revolution.

The other causes were social and political. The social cause was wealth. The third estate didn’t have as much money as the nobles and clergy so they couldn't afford as much food, and on top of that, they had to pay the chief tax (taille) while the other estates did not. The political factor was the fact

Moving on to the time period of this document this document was written March 1, 1789 a couple months before the storming of the Bastille. Thus, at this time in history there was a significant amount of commotion arising from the people of the Third Estate. The people of the Third Estate were trying to voice their opinions on the oppressive political and economic situations occurring at this time in France in order to try and bring about a reform. These oppressive political and economic situations that the Third Estate were trying to reform included things such as the king heavily taxing only the Third Estate, who already did not even have the finances to survive let alone pay these high taxes. Another example is the fact that the Third Estate did not have equal representatives in the political society to represent their wants and demands in comparison to the First and Second Estates, which can be seen through out Cahier de Doleance’s, Villagers of Lion-en-Sullias, Women of Paris, Flower Sellers, and Village of Pithiviers-le-Vieil. Cahier de Doleance’s, District of Mansigne. Not only does this text help historians and the reader get a better understanding of the specific wants of the Third Estate but the rest of his documents such as Villagers of Lion-en-Sullias, Women of Paris, Flower Sellers, and

Social Classes are one of the 3 main causes of the French Revolution. The 2 upper estates paid almost no taxes and also owned most of the land. The cartoon in document 7 shown

The First and Second Estate didn’t do nearly as much work for the country as the Third Estate did. This estate consisted of 75% of the country. They were in charge of the distribution of the agricultural products that the country made. As Abbe Sieyes said, “What is the Third Estate? Everything; but an everything shackled and oppressed.” (Abbe Sieyes). The Third Estate is the same as the other Estates, but more poor than them. Abbe Sieyes believed that they deserved more recognition than they ever got. Overall, the First and Second Estate treated the Third Estate terribly, and didn’t give them recognition for their work caused the French

Lands held by commoners are taxed heavily”. This indicates and proves that it isn’t just the Third Estates point of view; it also is seen from an outside perspective on how they are being treated unfairly. Poor Leadership was a major cause of the French Revolution as well. Through the reign of Louis XVl’s he was a horrible king.

The third estate had to pay the highest rate of taxes, while the first and second estates had to pay little or no taxes (document 2). The first estate enjoyed enormous wealth and privilege, owned about ten percent of the land, collected tithes, and paid no taxes. The second estate owned land, but had little money income. The third estate resented privileges of the first two estates and were burdened by taxes.

The third estate’s citizens had the lowest income in France, yet they were the ones who were supporting the government. The burden of the countries taxes was nearly impossible for the third estate to carry. One peasant woman said that the taxes were “crushing” her and her fellow third estate members. (Document 2).The first and second estate made up the wealthiest portion of France, yet they paid next to nothing in taxes. This obviously and rightfully angered members of the third estate. Why should the only people who can afford to pay taxes be exempt from them? This kind of inequality resulted in violence from the third estate. As a form of rebellion, peasants attacked tax collectors whom they owed money. They also burned land registers and court records. This example, along with the formation of the National Assembly show that the first actions of the revolution were a result of not giving the third estate the voice that it’s members felt it

The citizens of the 3rd estate and some citizens in the 2nd estate in France during 1789, were not happy at all. They were getting heavily taxed by Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, and the Catholic Church. When they didn’t have the money to pay the taxes that was forced upon them. After all of the hard work they put in to growing crops, the crops were taken

One major cause of the French Revolution was the exaggeration of taxes on the 3rd estate. From 1787-1789, the 3rd estate was the largest group in France. In the excerpt Travels in France, the author traveled France and made observations of the poor qualities of the lives of the peasants. Young stated “there is an injustice in levying the amount each person must pay. Lands held by the nobility are taxed very little.

The wars of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI all led to an increasing amount of anger from the people as there were unfair taxes for the Third Estate to pay the war debts. The Third Estate were already devastated

The “Estates” were three set classes. The First Estate consisted of the high Clergy, 1% of the population. The Second Estate held the Nobles, 2% of the population. The Third Estate remained with everyone else, from merchants to peasant farmers, 97% of the population. The way the state was broken was only in favor of the First and Second Estate.

The French Revolution was a bloody civil war that lasted from the years 1789-1799. [1] The revolution arose out of hard economic times that had befallen France. Widespread famine and hunger, due to a grain shortage, rampaged through sections of the country. The economic crisis led to an increase in taxes on the lower classes, known as the third estate, to upkeep the lavish lifestyle of the nobility. [1] All of these are the known factors that led to the rise of the French Revolution.

There are very few members in the first and second estates, yet they owned the most land, while the third estate made up most of the population, yet owned very little land. “First: Clergy - 1% of the people owned 10% of the land. Second Estate: Nobles - 2% of the people owned 35% of the land. Third Estate - Middle class, peasants, city workers 97% of the people owned 55% of the land.” (Document 2) There were high prices, high taxes, and people were listening to enlightenment ideas. Louis XVI decided to tax the Second Estate. They called a meeting of the Estates-General - an assembly of representatives from all three estates. (ROI) In addition, as a political cause, the third estate had no privileges or say in the government,while both the clergy and nobles did. As mentioned before, the inequality of taxes proved another gap in the social classes. “The Revolution had been accomplished in the minds of men long before it was translated into fact.... The middle class...was sensitive to their inferior legal position. The Revolution came from them-the middle class. The working classes were incapable of starting or controlling the Revolution. They were just beginning to learn to read.” (Document 4) Estates- General was the first such meeting in 175 years. Met on May 5th,1789 in Versailles. In the Estate- General each estate had one vote. (ROI)

The French Revolution was a period of time from 1789 to 1799 in France where there was political instability. It officially began on the 14th of July, 1789, when the Bastille, which was a symbol of the King’s harsh policies, was stormed. The King, Louis XVI, the Queen, Marie-Antoinette and about 40,000 people were all brutally murdered. But there was also a positive side, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was formally adopted on August 1789 and feudalism was abolished. This essay will address the issues of the three estates system, food shortages and the fiscal crisis. It will also be argued that the most significant cause of the French Revolution was the social inequality that stemmed from the three estates system.