Commoners: The Most Important Social Cause Of The French Revolution

As Marie Antoinette said, “There is nothing new except what has been forgotten.” this is proof that the French monarchy being built on absolutism and forgetting about the 3rd Estate’s feelings towards it led France through a revolution for a new way of life. In the 1600s France was ruled by an absolute monarchy. The rulers only answered to God, upsetting the peasants, which in turn caused many heads to roll. The most important social, economic, and political causes for the French Revolution are the unfair censorship of speech for commoners, the over-taxation of commoners, and the absolute power of the French monarchy. The most important social cause of the French Revolution was the strict censorship of 3rd Estate citizens. The French peasants, whom absolute monarchs of France ruled, were upset because of the censorship of the press and speech that King Louis XVI was enforcing during his time. As Friedman & Foner, College Entrance Book Co says, “He controlled the expression of thought by a strict censorship of speech and press” (Friedman & Foner, College Entrance Book Co). The King could control every aspect of life for the citizens of France and enforced it, including how they expressed themselves and their opinions. This made an

In France, before the revolution, commoners were taxed by the 1st and 2nd estates, making them poor and unable to buy necessities. In Document 2 there are two people labeled “1st Estate” and “2nd Estate” standing on an object, labeled “taxes”, that is weighing down the “3rd Estate” and crushing them(The Political and Social System of France) . This shows that the first and second estates were not only more powerful than the third estate, but they also were only on top because of the taxes they enforced on the third estate. The over-taxation of the third estate was the most important economic cause of the French