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French Revolution Research Paper

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The French Revolution began in 1789, six years after the end of the American Revolution. Seeing the freedom of the American people, the French were unhappy with their living conditions. This movement, combined with the spread of Enlightenment ideals, as well as the inevitable bankruptcy of France, enabled the French to fight for their freedoms. All of the origins of the French Revolution can be traced back to France’s aid in the American Revolution. This, along with tax exemption from nobles, left France with no money to support its citizens. King Louis XVI needed to find a way to increase the revenue of the nation, but, much to his dismay, needed to meet demands of the Estates General before they would approve it. The financial gap was so …show more content…

When Louis refused to meet the demands of the Estates General, they, understandably, became upset. Meanwhile, the aristocrats were blocking the Bourgeois’ attempts for reform, because they knew it would result in a loss of privileges, like being exempt from taxes. As the needs of the country changed, and as new groups assumed power, the name of the legislative body of France changed. After the Estates General, came the National Assembly. While the Estates General was meeting, the need for a written constitution arose, as did the need to establish a body that met regularly. In an effort to equalize the process, each person received one vote. Once it was decided that France needed a new constitution, the National Assembly took the Tennis Court Oath. Under the Tennis Court Oath, patrons vowed to remain in session until the constitution had been written. This body became known as the National Constituent Assembly. Under the new constitution, male citizens were not able to vote unless they agreed to pay taxes. This change aided the commerce of the nation by forcing aristocrats to pay if they wanted a say in the government. Eventually, a legislative body that met regularly was approved for France called the National

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The French Revolution started July 14, 1789 in France and endured till Nov 9, 1799. The French Revolution lead to the abolishment of a monarchy and turned it into a republic. The fundamental causes of the French Revolution were social imbalance, political injustice, and economic instability. Socially, France had an unequal distribution upon the 3 estates. Politically, the monarchy was over thrown and turned into a republic.

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He ruled by divine right theory which held that he had received his power to govern from god and was therefore responsible e to god alone (doc 1). During this time King Louis XVI became too powerful. King Louis XVI way of ruling is by divine right . Which led to a lot of despair in his country. One of the causes of the French Revolution is the unfair treatment of the third estate

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The country was in an economic depression as I mentioned before, mostly from the American War which skyrocketed France’s debt by more than half (Doc E). Prices and taxes rose on the third estate. The income was 471.6 million livers while Louis spent 633.1 million livers. He put 261.1 livers into interest on debt but because he was spending so much on war and court luxuries the country only went into more debt (Doc K). The French budget was on the verge of collapse, unemployment was rising, and there were food shortages.

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Due to the high prices of bread, many problems occurred. People that couldn’t afford for bread would die of starvation over time and there were many riots over bread. In addition to high prices on bread, King Louis XVI also raised taxes on the commoners. This made the commoners extremely upset because they were paying far more taxes than the clergy and nobility. As mentioned in document 3,“Lands held by the nobility are taxed very little.

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King Louis XVI of England needed to raise more money for his growing army and empire. After he failed to raise taxes, he called a meeting of the Estates Generals. That meeting ended up becoming a protest against the horrible conditions in France. The people of France were displeased with their living conditions and argued that France is the wealthiest country in Europe so they should be living comfortably. Austria and Prussia also form an alliance in which they decide to impose war on France.

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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.

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Like modern day politics, 1790’s France had different groups with conflicting ideas on how their government should be run. In the French society, the rich wanted to stay rich and not have to deal with taxes and other responsibilities. The poor people in the society realized this was happening and declared they wanted change. The difference of opinions created a lot of conflicts because each group both had strong opinions on how the country should be run. During the immediate period prior to and during the French Revolution, the demands and interests of different groups caused social conflict.

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As the nation’s economic condition worsened, the First and Second Estates continued to live lavishly, oblivious to the hardships of the world, while the Third Estate received the brunt of it all. King Louis XVI was incompetent, and he did nothing to alleviate their difficulties. Wars, the king’s court life, and Marie Antoinette’s deficit spending all contributed to the increasing debt of the nation; furthermore, half of the royal budget went to interest, so both the commoners and king’s budget exceeded what they could afford. To make matters worse, peasants had fees and services owed back all the way from feudal times. So as the Third Estate fell into destitution and royal spending increased, the price of goods rose.

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Taxes, which is still a commonly disagreed topic, were a major reason the people of France revolted. The members of the first estate were paying only a fraction of what the members of the third and event the second were. Arthur Young, a man who travelled through France from 1787 to 1789, made the observation that land owned by nobility and people of the upper class was taxed very little compared to the land owned by common citizens (Doc. 1). This injustice took a great toll on members of the third estate and

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The French Revolution was one of the most significant wars that changed France’s history. The Revolution started in 1789 and ended in 1799 and was mainly initiated by the conditions affecting the Third Estate. Louis XVI was predominately the king during this time period but little did he know that an uprising among the peasants was happening. The French Revolution was caused by the Enlightenment ideas because of the American Revolution, the knowledge of rights, and the questioning of France’s government. The American Revolution was basically the “fire” that ignited the change the Third Estate wanted to see in their country.

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Our modern society has been sculpted by many revolts throughout history. Many governments and ideas have risen to power do to these revolutions. The French revolution began on July 14, 1789 due to the neglect of the people by the french government along with the mistreatment of the lower class. A important phase in the revolution was the Reign of Terror, A period where the government had been taken over by a revolutionary government called the National Convention. This new government rule france with force, executing all who opposed them and outlawing all counter revolutionary ideas and practices.

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Tennis Court Of Oath June of 1789, the third estate felt so unimportant, they decided to have their own meeting and found themselves meeting at a tennis court in Versailles because of this mistreatment. They broke off from the General Estates meeting and claimed to be the voice and head of the people of France later known as the National Assembly. The commoners were joined by clergy who wanted what's best for the people and by this they were to write a new constitution for France. Each individual pledged, or made a sword promise known as the “Tennis Court of Oath” to meet wherever and whenever to establish a proper constitution for France. In 1791 the third estate was finally rewarded because their constitution of 1791 was accepted in office.

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The bourgeoisie emerged as a major political force in France and absolutism and feudalism were officially overthrown. The major problem with the price of bread was also fixed and food was rationed. Slavery was abolished, following the theme of equal rights. Other reforms made by the Jacobins included a universal draft, banned titles of citizens, set up social security, mandatory elementary schools, religious toleration, more rights for women, change of fashion, and a new calendar and festivals. The effects of the French Revolution changed the way France was run and also the lives of middle and lower

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The French Revolution, from 1789 to 1799, was a turning point in history and created enormous change. France, for centuries, had been divided into three classes; churchmen, nobility and Peasants. The nobles and churchmen had huge wealth while ordinary people were very poor. The Monarchy did not do enough to help ordinary people and this class of people became increasingly angry with their circumstances. This eventually led to an uprising by ordinary people against

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During the Eighteenth Century, France had an absolute monarchy with Louis XVI as king and Marie Antoinette as queen. In that time period, French society was based upon a system of Estates where the clergy made up the First Estate; the nobility comprised the Second Estate, and everyone else including professionals, peasants, and the bourgeoisie made up the Third Estate. The Third Estate was immensely unhappy with the old regime, the Estates General, and Louis XVI’s leadership. France was also in the midst of a fiscal crisis due to the American Revolution, Louis XVI’s lavish lifestyle, the Seven Years War, and the tax exemption of the First and Second Estate. Following the surge of new ideas and impactful philosophers from the Enlightenment,

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