The Estates General
Background

By 1787, France’s economy is in ruins for
several reasons
 Lavish
spending by Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette
 Poor taxing policies
 Seven Years War (1756-1763) and the
American Revolution (1775-1783)
King Louis XVI promises to call together
the Estates General, which had not met
since 1614
 Hopefully this will solve France’s problems
 The Estates General is scheduled to meet
on May 5th, 1789 at Versailles

Louis XVI, king of
France

What Was the Estates General?
This was a legislative assembly for the
different French classes (Congress)
 The Estates General was made up of three
classes

 Clergy-1st
Estate
 Nobility-2nd Estate
 Bourgeoisie (peasants)-3rd Estate
Clergy
By 1789, the 1st Estate (Clergy) was made
up of 100,000 people
 Owned 5-10% of the land
 All property was tax-exempt


Clergy
Nobility
The 2nd Estate (Nobility) was made up of
400,000 people
 Enjoyed the better government jobs
 Was also tax-exempt


Nobility
Bourgeoisie
The 3rd Estate (Bourgeoisie, peasants) was
made up of 25 million people
 The 3rd Estate paid all of the taxes
 This means the burden fell on France’s
poorest
 Each Estate had one vote
 The 1st and 2nd Estates usually voted
together

The 3rd Estate had to sit by themselves at
the Estates General
 They had to wear black robes
 Had to enter the Estates General through
a side door
 The 3rd Estate (98% of France) is getting
fed up…

2008-2009 Academics Mid-Term
1-25 Geography (there will be a map)
26-40 Countries and capitals (no map)
41-55 Middle Ages (matching)
56-62 Roman Numerals
63-71 Middle Ages
72-96 Renaissance
97-121 Absolute Monarchs
122-144 Reformation
145-180 French Revolution
There will also be an essay
2008-2009 Honors Mid-Term
1-25 Geography (there will be a map)
26-40 Countries and capitals (no map)
41-55 Middle Ages (matching)
56-62 Roman Numerals
63-71 Middle Ages
72-96 Renaissance
97-121 Absolute Monarchs
122-144 Reformation
145-180 French Revolution
181-200 Scientific Revolution/Enlightenment
There will also be an essay
Perform a Skit (10 points)
In groups of three, perform a skit about
today’s material so everyone is involved
 Some ideas include the following:

A
meeting between Louis XVI and his advisors
to discuss the economy crisis
 The clergy and nobility ganging up on 3rd
Estate (NO violence!)
 Re-enact voting in the Estates General
 Pretend you are a 3rd Estate family. What
might you complain about?
 3rd Estate complaining about treatment at the
Estates General