Social Injustices In France In The Eighteenth Century

1215 Words5 Pages

In the Eighteenth century, there was a lot of unfairness and injustices. The social ranking of France was divided into three estates. The First Estate was formed of the clergy, Second Estate was formed of the nobility, and lastly, the Third Estate was formed of the commoners, which was 97 % of France's population. The Third Estate lived an unhappy, miserable life, while the First and Second Estate lived privileged lives. As the Third Estate lived an unfair life comparing to upper estates, conflicts started to rise. Their was a lot of resentment between the different classes in France. More than half of the population in France was made up of the bourgeoisie including the peasantry. The clergy and nobles didn't have to pay taxes even though they were the ones spending most of the countries money. The commoners worked really hard to pay their taxes on time and to feed their families. The nobles enriched themselves through hard work and taxes of the commoners, which made the feudal system. It wasn’t common for the commoners to move from the Third Estate to the Second Estate, even if they had just as money as the nobles. One of the only ways they could move up in class was through marriage or buying their …show more content…

They wanted to vote as one country and the majority wins, but the First and Second Estate knew that they would be outvoted. The new voting procedure was rejected, which led the commoners to create the National Assembly. They claimed that, it represented the people of France and delegates from the First and Second Estate were welcomed. A few days later, the National Assembly finds its meeting hall locked. Instead, they gathered at a nearby tennis court. The Tennis Court Oath was taken, which promised not to disband until they have written a constitution for France. This was the end to a peaceful country for years to