French Revolution Dbq Analysis

In 1789, the first shots that marked the start of the French Revolution were fired. The French Revolution did not occur on a whim, for the nation’s instability had been a growing problem throughout the years leading up to it. The overall cause of the revolution is deeply rooted in France’s economic problems, failed attempts at reform, and the antiquated social system that stood in place: the Old Regime. Internal problems that arose because of the Old Regime were a large cause of the French Revolution. The Old Regime was made up of three estates. The first estate was made up of the clergy. They collected taxes, and were exempt from paying taxes. The first estate seemed to justify their exemption from taxation with the fact that they provided

The social unrest and internal weaknesses did not go unnoticed and there were attempts to stabilize society, but those attempts proved to be of no help. In Document 3, the excerpt from The Cahiers presented to the king at the Estates General meeting shows the third estates’ grievances and suggested reforms. They call for three changes: equal taxation, definite meeting times of the Estates General, and voting by means of headcount. The idea of changing the method of voting in the Estates General was first brought to the attention of the king in 1776, by Jacques Necker. He was the Director of General Finances, and he is known for publishing the first ever record of French government revenue and expenditures. However, he failed to address the idea of voting by means of headcount. He was unsuccessful in changing the third estates’ political stance and influence. In 1788, King Louis XIV called for the Estates General to present cahiers at the meeting. Each estate presented one cahier filled with their grievances. However, the first and second estate usually called for similar reforms, which was actually very little, and cancelled out the third estate. The third estate’s voting and presence in the Estates General was met with a 2:1 ratio, so they were always out voted and left with no representation. With their lack of representation in mind, the third estate broke away from the Estates General.

Many economic decisions made by earlier kings, and the economic inequality within the French society charged the downfall of the economy in general. In fact, when the Estates General met in 1788, France was on the verge of bankruptcy. In Document 1, Arthur Young, who traveled through France during the late 1780s, spoke of the life of the poorest in society. He spoke about the heavy taxes they had to burden, and how feudal dues were taking a toll on their lives. He wrote, “The price of bread has risen above people’s ability to pay. This causes great misery.” Not only are the poorest of society are burdened with taxes and dues, but they are also unable to pay for their source of food. In Document 2, the first and second estate statistically own the most land individually, but pay little to no taxes. The third estate owns the least amount of land individually, but pays the most, and is affected the most by taxes. In addition to what is included in the documents, France was plunged into debt because of wars. Every monarch that ruled in France has gone to war. War is a very costly commitment, and it can seriously impact a nation’s economy. France funded the American Revolution, which also severely impacted France’s debt. Deficit spending was another major problem with the ruling monarchs, for they would be spending money that the nation did not have. King Louis XIV funneled a lot of money into building