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Tale Of Two Cities Social Analysis

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The France of the 1700s was regarded by many to be the most advanced and affluent European nation of the time, due to its cultural influence, prosperous trade and large population. However this appearance hid the social unrest brewing in the nation’s heart between the three major social classes. Though France had three major social classes called Estates, in truth it was divided in two: the privileged Estates (First and Second, clergy and aristocracy) who barely paid any taxes and the Third Estate (everyone else, from lowly peasants to the bourgeoisie) who paid the majority of the taxes. The Third Estate was itself divided into three major groups: 1. The bourgeoisie consisting of bankers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, factory owners and skilled artisans. Though some of them reached or even surpassed the wealth of nobles, they still …show more content…

Fearing that his intention was to use this army to disband the National Assembly or to turn upon the citizenry, the common people began making preparations to defend themselves by collecting weaponry. To this end they stormed the Bastille, a prison in Paris, seized it, and decapitated its governor (a scene also portrayed in A Tale of Two Cities, albeit with fictional characters created by Dickens playing pivotal roles). This act became a symbol of the revolution to the French people. What would become known as the Great Fear swept the rural parts of the nation, as the peasantry begun to suspect that the aristocracy plotted to starve them and that thus armed themselves and attacked their homes, frequently burning them down, alongside the papers that bound them to paying legal fees. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was drafted by the assembly in the August of 1789, and it was this declaration that France’s first constitution, written in 1781, was based

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The French Revolution was from 1789 through 1799. The French Revolution had many bad causes to it and many people hated it. The french people had many good reasons to revolt on such as unequal tax burdens, they had financial crisis, and they also had a weak monarchy which brought many problems. Having the French Revolution changed France in many ways.

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This document demonstrates the ideological nature of the Estates during the French Revolution. The Third Estate’s members aimed to overthrow the current social and political system and were driven by ideological beliefs. The document highlights the need for justice and equality by outlining a number of complaints against the advantages held by the nobility and clergy. It emphasizes the need for a more fair society by demanding the end of feudal rights and privileges. This source reveals the Third Estate’s complaints were based on more expensive ideological ideas of justice and equality, indicating their dedication to revolutionary principles.

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In France during the French Revolution in 1787 to 1799 there were many struggles between the government and its people. King Louis xiv ruled under absolute monarchy and divine right, his actions angered the third estate sparking a revolution. The revolution lead to many changes and views in the world that stand even today. In the economy with the taxing of France it only effected the third estate, the first and third estate weren’t touched by the government.

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As what 's defined as a revolution from the dictionary, “is a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system”. This occurred multiple times around the world, some included in the countries France; The French Revolution, Mexico; The Mexican revolution, China; The Chinese Revolution, Russia; The Russian Revolution, and many others around the globe. As both French and Mexican revolutions fought for independence and to convert to a modern world government, they both were concerned with inequality with the lower classmen. The French Revolution fought to end monarchy establishment, while the Mexican Revolution fought to end dictatorship and to establish a constitutional republic.

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The French Revolution was caused by the French government’s inability to unite their people as one nation and address the people’s demand for reformation of unjust taxation and citizen equality causing uprisings and revolts among middle and lower class people. The French government was already unstable after their assistance in the United States with their fight for independence, which put France in tremendous debt. Since the nobles and the clergymen were favored by the government, taxes were forced upon the Third Estate resulting in even more unrest. All citizens were not equal under the law, and the government was too occupied by their financial situation to focus on fixing the inequality and lack of representation among their own citizens.

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Before the French revolution, there was a very unfair tax system directed toward the 3rd estate. The Declaration of man had tried to fix that. The Economics of the French revolution had put out a chart showing the taxation through all the estates. It had sown that the only estate getting taxed was the third estate, the 3rd estate were the least wealthy compared to the nobles and the clergies. Comte D’Antraigues had spoken to A Chronicle of the French revolution saying that there was nothing special about the nobles and the clergy's and they were the same as anyone else.

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The three estates system was used to rule France in the eighteenth century. Each estate was composed of the clergy, nobles, and commoners respectively. However, this system of governance allowed the first and second estates, which comprised only 10% of the population, to outvote the third estate, which was made up of 90% of the people. By questioning the fairness of the system, the third estate was able to revolutionize and abolish the unfair system. Without the questioning of the decisions and ideas of the second and first estate, the third estate would’ve continued to be taken advantage of.

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Up until the French Revolution, eighteenth-century France was based on the inequality caused by the division of society into three principal estates: the clergy, nobility, and commoners. The first estate was primarily composed of religious members of the Catholic Church, otherwise known as the clergy, and only made up about 0.5% of the total French population. The second estate included members of the royal family and comprised about 1.5% of the population. Despite their sizes, together the first and second estates held the majority of the power in the nation and left the third estate, the commoners, without any say in government matters. The first and second estates were exempt from taxes while the third estate was heavily fined and oftentimes

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Around the eighteenth France was an autocratic monarchy. The French monarchs had limitless power and referred to themselves as the "Representative of god". They would buy themselves unneeded clothes, jewelry, and more. They would also arrest any person with no reason at any time. A few examples that portray this monarchy and riches include Louis XIV famous remarks is "I am the state", Louis XV was when France became bankrupt because of luxury and wars, Louis

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The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, written on August 27, 1789, have also had a great impact on the French Revolution. The purpose of this document was to ensure the equality of all the (male) citizens before the law. In other words, all citizens must abide by the laws and everybody has equal rights. This document was inspired by the U.S. Constitution since it incorporates many ideas similar to it, such as of equality amongst all under the law, and ides of many philosophes. This Declaration included the ideas of well-known philosphes such as Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Beccaria.

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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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In France, the people wanted revenge against the oppressive leadership and luxurious lifestyles of the rich in society. Upon finding out that the aristocrats have lost their property, they decide to take action by invading one of France’s most tightly guarded prisons, the Bastille.

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In the early stage of the Revolution, Charles Alexandre de Calonne proposed some financial package including a universal tax in which the more fortunate would no longer be exempt. The king reacted by summoning the Estates General that would represent Frances clergy, middle class, and nobility. The Estates General came together for a meeting in Versailles. The Third Estate was most of the population of the Estates general and they had hostile argument with the others and formed their own group called the National Assembly and look limits to meet in the Tennis Courts if that’s what thy had to do and not disperse until the Constitution was reformed. More and more upper class joined and they became more powerful by outnumbering the king.

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797 Words | 4 Pages

French society was defined by the the “Ancien Regime” the system of three estates (Clergy, Nobility, and Peasantry). The clergy and nobility were respected and had a higher position in society and the peasants were left to carry the country, by working farms, generating the wealth, and paying a large majority of taxes. This largely contributed to the tensions arising in 1780’s France. Meanwhile, France was engaged in the Age of Enlightenment people were demanding that church and state be separate, the King resigns and a new logic based system of government is to be established.

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1151 Words | 5 Pages

The actions taken against the oppression of the monarchy demonstrate that the French Revolution challenged the traditional value of social inequality to a near-full

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