While the French Revolution began in 1789, ideas and inequalities started long before the fighting. The French had recently helped with the American Revolution, with their quest to reach freedom from the British. This helped spark ideas that were already there. The French people, mostly the third class, realized that they were being treated unfairly and that they could do something about it. The French Revolution was caused due to many occurring factors over a period of time, whether it be poor leadership by King Louis XVI, inequality of the third estate, or past ideas such as the Enlightenment, which inspired the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. The first cause of the French Revolution was poor leadership. It started with King Louis …show more content…
In the Lectures on the French Revolution by Sir John Dalberg -Acton, we get the views of Lord Actons, who states that the Enlightenment was not the direct cause of the revolution, but it was the spark that began the fight. Instead, it was the American Revolution that caused the french revolution to break out eventually. (Document 5) In an excerpt from the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. This document shows us how the past ideas of the enlightenment could be brought together to help form a Declaration of Rights. According to the document, the natural rights of men are that they are born free and have equal rights. These views were directly opposed by the French government before the revolution took place. Many people in the lower estates were not treated equally, whether it be with money or with the people's quality of life. (Document 8) This document proves it could have sparked rebellion because it showed French citizens that they could have freedom and that the government did not have complete control over them. It gave them the motivation to speak out against the government and fight for their