The Three Estates and Grievances 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 3 main causes if the French revolution are social classes , Enlightenment Ideas, and a financial crisis in France. Social classes and Enlightenment Ideas caused the French Revolution because it was the 1st and 2nd estate controlling everything. They owned all the land and put it on the 3rd estate like taxes. Enlightenment Ideas helped cause the French Revolution because the 3rd estate got ideas from England and America revolting against their leaders in government and making a new government. These 3 causes gave the people of France ideas to have basic human rights.

The French Revolution occurred from 1789 to 1799. A major issue during this time period in France was social classes, which included the First, Second, and Third Estate. The First and Second Estate had freedom, rights, and equality while the Third Estate had almost nothing. Third Estate got no recognition for their work, while the French Church had problems with voting, and salaries. The Third Estate formed the National Assembly to write The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and The Civil Constitution of the Clergy. They wrote them to help fix the problems that caused the revolution. The causes of the French revolution are the French Church, the inequality of the Estates, and the minimal freedom and rights that the Third Estate has.

During the time of the French Revolution in 1789, there were many tensions across political, social, and economic classes. There were extreme divisions between the 3rd Estate and the 1st and 2nd Estate, leading to multiple removals and reinstatements of leaders. While many issues were involved with the French Revolution, there were three that were the most vital to it actually occurring. The three most critical causes of the French Revolution were the Enlightenment, the oppression of the Third Estate, and the general fiscal crisis of France.

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.

At this point, many people were upset on how unequal life was. The oppressed knew if a king had all the power to do anything he wanted, the people would would constantly be governed unfairly. In revolting against the king the people wanted to the power in the hands of the people by overthrowing the monarchy. Many members of the middle class, part of the third estate,(specifically the bourgeoisie) were not happy with the special privileges held by the nobles. (textbook pg. 5-6) Educated people were drawn to the ideas of the enlightenment. With the exposure to these new ideas, individuals were upset with the monarchy and its system. They became interested in the ideas that spoke of balance of power. This was a very important factor for the revolution. These new ideas propelled people to think about the amount of power the government should have, what rights should be given to the individual, and whether or not their current government uses its power fairly. The French people began to see that they were being abused by their

Before the time where an urge to revolt arose, the wealthy had the power. As part of their power, they had to keep things running smoothly. Unfortunately, their ideas of the world as a better place was making the working class do all the labor and in return giving them the least amount of reward possible so they could take most of the revenue into their own hands. The upper class made decisions for the feeble lower class and then it was up to these unstable people to produce the result desired. As far as the bourgeoisie were concerned, there was not anything wrong in the way they were going about life. This was one of the biggest problems at the time. The bourgeoisie

During the French Revolution, the first and second estates came together against the third estate. The third estate was angry because the majority of the

The first stage of the revolution was caused by a number of factors, both economic and social. First of all, toward the end of the 18th Century, France was in deep financial trouble. The country was nearly bankrupt, due to a combination of leftover national debt from previous kings, several bad harvests in a row, and the recent expenses related to helping the American Revolution. To make things worse, the tax system was out of date and no longer met the financial needs of the nation (Nicassio 481). Under this system, the population of France was divided into three Estates. The First Estate was composed of members of the clergy, the Second Estate represented the nobles, and the Third included everybody else. Traditionally, the First Estate would

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)

Prior to the French revolution, people of the state felt unrestful towards the old regime, which was composed of three estates. The first estate consisted of the clergy, while the second

The majority were already struggling with the cost of living, and the addition of extra taxes caused it to be near impossible for them to survive financially. This angered the third estate, and provided an incentive for the revolution. Therefore, it is evident that the social inequality that derived from the three estates system was the most significant cause of the French Revolution.

Soon after, the 3rd estate realized the state that they, and their country were in, and soon rebelled against the 1st and 2nd estates. This rebellion was influenced by the horrible conditions they were left to live in, including having to live off of nothing but the profit from their crops, as most of the 3rd estate consisted of farmers. This was not helped by the fact that the 3rd estate had to pay 100% of the taxes, and were becoming poorer and poorer, due to a drought within the years leading up to the revolution, lowering their profit, and making it harder to live. Soon after they rebelled, they created a National Assembly, which then met up with the 1st and 2nd estates, and voted on a constitution, which would turn France into a republic, and abolish all traces of monarchy. Soon after this, France broke out into chaos, undivided on whether to change France, or keep it the same. Soon after, many events that take place in the the places being visited happened. you will learn more of these places within the

In the summer of 1789, the National Assembly was created in Paris, a group where representatives of the Third Estate vowed to abolish the absolute monarchy. The creation of this group marks the start of the French Revolution in which the Third Estate created a new government giving the lower class of France better rights and ending the absolute monarchy. The French Revolution was caused by financial difficulties, the unfair estate system, and enlightenment ideas, as shown by various primary and secondary sources.

A set of factors helped ensure various similarities between the French and Haitian revolutions, especially regarding causes; unfair distribution of power between social classes, restricted liberties and representations/speech and wanting democratic reforms. Social inequality was a major cause in both revolutions as for monarchial nobles dominated over those below them. France under the ancient regime divided society into three estates; the First Estate (clergy); the Second Estate (nobility); and the Third Estate (commoners). The clergies and nobles enjoyed special privileges. Despite their high income, they were exempt from direct taxes. Below the privileged, the commoners and peasants suffered under the burden of out of date feudal dues. The nobles collected