The Unfair Tax System During The French Revolution
The estate system in general also added to the beginning of the French Revolution. There was extreme inequality between the three estates, and it was clear that the third estate was treated the worst. Doc 7 shows the first and second estate literally
Economically, heavy taxes fell on the three estates. Firstly, France endured social imbalance during the French Revolution. Many people during this time were very poor and there was an increased bread price on the people of the third estate (Doc 1). Representing the fact that the third estate were treated unfairly then
In their minds they should of taxed the upper class which had more money and could survive if they had to pay extra
They were forced to pay a considerable amount of taxes to the lords. Due to this large sum of money, those part of the third estate struggled to provide themselves. In most cases, buying food was nearly impossible (Doc 1). On top of that, the third estate was forced to live on little land. Unlike with the first and second estates, the population of the third estate was not proportionate to the amount of living space (Doc 2).
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.
Before the revolution, the third estate got taxed the most and barely had any rights, while the first and second estate barely got taxed, and had majority of the rights. “Pre Revolutionary Causes Source C: The Third Estate of Carcassonne, list of grievances from the Third Estate, Cahiers de Doléances (excerpts), 1789” However, after the the National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. That all changed.
Not only was the third estate the only taxed they were severely taxed. The third estate made up ninety eight percent of the population yet they only owned sixty five percent of land, also the commoners paid one hundred percent of taxes while nobles and clergy collected them (Doc. 2). Peasants
The third estate, which makes up 98% of the population, is unhappy with the dramatic advantages that the first 2 estates receive. Getting rid of nobility helps all citizens have equal opportunity. Doc B “Jan 21,1793 Trial, conviction, and execution of Louis XVI for treason“. The execution of King Louis not only served as a symbol, but also showed that the French population want a honest leader in a democratic nation. “ February 1794, All slavery abolished in French colonies.”
The French peasant community relied on bread and wheat for food. This was until “Poor harvests in 1788 and 1789 (which) sent prices of wheat and rye soaring- leaving many desperate” (566 Spielvogel) The peasants who relied so much upon wheat now had to find a new way to survive. France's debt made the government needed to higher the price. This change made the Third Estate unhappy because the Government were changing their system to hurt the Third Estate drastically, but would not change when asking the First and Second Estate to simply do more taxes.
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
They owned 25% of the land and only paid 2% of taxes. Now comes the shocking part: the rich people paid nothing. The First Estate owned 10% of land and paid 0% of the taxes. According to Document 3, the Third Estate demanded that three changes should be made in the French Government: every tax should be granted by the Estates General for a limited time, they needed to schedule the meetings of the Estates General for definite times and the votes of the Third Estate should be taken by head in the assembly. Document 4 states that, when the middle class found out about Enlightenment ideas, they became the leaders of the Revolution.
During this time there was a law of “1 estate 1 vote” which made the Third Estate votes meant nothing as the 1st and 2nd worked together to get many laws passed without regard for about 97% of their population, this is something that also helped aid the Revolution. In 1789, Jacques Antoine Creuzé-Latouche, a French lawyer, wrote about their account of the king’s reform proposals presented to the Estates General, stating that some new laws/rights of these arrangements which favored the clergy and the nobility and were greeted by them with cries of “Long live the king!” while there was unbroken silence and no response from the deputies of the Third Estate (Document 4). This shows the imbalance of power, the 1st and 2nd Estates were able to overrule the majority of the population easily as long as they agreed. Most of the laws made and passed affected the Third Estate more than anyone and they had no choice in the matter.
(1) This evidence shows that the tax was unevenly distributed amongst the French population, especially the Third Estate that was impoverished. This caused a financial unrest between the king and the tax paying Third Estate. On the other hand, in the American revolution, all of the thirteen colonies had to pay tax to the British. They found this unfair, because they had no representation in the British parliament, and they said: “taxation without representation is tyranny” (2). This makes it clear that the Americans had no rights or say in the British government.
The initial idea was to have one vote per estate. The vote was to determine whether or not the first and second estates should pay taxes along with the third estate. Both the clergy and the aristocracy did not want to pay taxes. It was evident that the vote would be unfair. The initial way the Estates would vote on taxes was one vote per estate.
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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