By Chris Anderson
Randolph-Henry High School
Introduction
France will reach its height during the
same time as the American Revolution
 France was very rich and powerful
 Although a rich nation, most of the people
of France were not rich--instead, the
people had very few rights
 the people of France saw how the
American colonists were able to gain their
independence and yearned for a change in
France

French Society Divided


France’s class
system allowed for
lots of inequality
among the people
there were three
estates--classes--in
French society:


 First Estate--Catholic
Clergy
 Second Estate-Nobility
 Third Estate--97% of
all French people

Third Estate people
had very few rights
and were envious of
the 1st and 2nd
Estates
the 3rd Estate was
the only class
required to pay taxes
3rd Estate people did
not share the same
rights as the 1st or
2nd
First Estate

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
This was constructed of
the Roman Catholic
clergy
this Estate was
comprised of only 1%
of the French
population
2 groups existed in the
1st Estate- higher clergy--bishops,
abbots
 lower clergy--parish
priests

High Clergy
 these controlled 5-10% of
all French land
 they collected a tithe from
each church member

Low Clergy
 poorer clergy
 socially part of the 3rd
estate
Second Estate
Formed by the French nobility
 only about 2% of the French population
 these members owned about 25% of the
land in France
 held high government positions
 usually they were rich--their main
income coming from feudal dues paid to
them by peasant farmers

Third Estate



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The 3rd Estate was the
largest social group in
France
Although the largest
group and the only group
that paid taxes, they had
no voice in government
peasants, artisans,
middle class
(bourgeoisie)
very few political rights
members of the
bourgeoisie lived in cities
and towns
bourgeoisie were usually
educated
Poor artisans and
workers also lived in
cities
 made little money in very
bad jobs
 many lived in the Paris
slums
 peasants lived outside
the cities in rural areas

 peasants owned 40% of
the land but were still
very poor
 paid heavy taxes
 they will eventually call
for social equality
Growing Unrest




The people of the 3rd
Estate will be unhappy
and want change
as the cost of living ,
the peasants’ anger
also
peasants were also
being over-charge for
the use of mills and
wine presses
artisans were
experiencing high
prices but no change in
wages--inflation
The bourgeoisie
were also unhappy
along with some
nobles
 the nobles did not
like the king’s
absolute power
 nobles wanted
more influence in
government

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Louis XIV had spent a
lot of money on many
wars during his reign
these wars had left
France with a huge
debt
his grandson, Louis XV,
increased the debt
during his reign
these debts had left
France economically
weak
1774: Louis XVI
becomes king of
France
 he is only 19 years old
Louis XVI is the
grandson of Louis XV
 Louis XVI is married to
18-yo Marie
Antoinette
 Louis XVI understood
the financial troubles
facing France
 Louis decided he must
tax the clergy and
nobility in order to
reduce France’s debts
 problem: the clergy
and nobility refused to
pay the taxes

Louis XV (15)
Louis XVI (16)
Marie Antoinette
 1786:
French banks were refusing to
loan $ to the government
 1786: crop failures
bread
shortages in 1788 & 1789
 the clergy and nobility refuse to help
the government
 Louis was forced to call the EstatesGeneral into session to raise
additional funds
Calling the Estates General
When Louis XVI called the EstatesGeneral into session in 1789, it was the
1st time since 1614
 the Estates-General was made up of
people from each different estate
 Louis hoped the Estates-General would
levy new taxes
 the nobles had different ideas

Meeting of the Estates General

The nobles wanted to:
 weaken the power of the king
 gain control of the government

each estate had only 1 vote in the
Estates-General
 the nobles hoped the votes of the 1st & 2nd
estates would outweigh the vote of the 3rd

the 3rd estate members refused to follow
the plan set by the nobles
 the 3rd estate--since it made up 97% of
France’s population--believed it should more
of a right to represent France than the nobles

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
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The 3rd estate wanted their members to have
individual votes--each delegate having a vote
many nobles supported this 3rd estate’s ideas
king Louis XVI did not like the 3rd estate’s idea of
having a mass meeting where each individual
member gets a vote
 Louis wanted the different estates to meet
separately
the bourgeoisie--members of the 3rd estate--ignored
the king
 these bourgeoisie were locked out of the meetings
 these bourgeoisie will demand a constitution for
France and rename themselves the National
Assembly

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This National Assembly gathered more
supporters
they met, many times, on indoor tennis courts-thus those who became members had to take
what was called the Tennis Court Oath
members promised not to break-up until France
had a constitution
the king did not want the members of the
National Assembly (3rd estate) to create a
constitution
Louis orders the 1st and 2nd estate to join in the
National Assembly to help create a national
constitution
the king also ordered troops to come to Paris
A Call to Revolt


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In the National Assembly, people voiced their
unhappiness over the French government
most members of the 3rd estate wanted total
social equality and the end of titles
other delegates wanted to copy the
constitutional monarchy present in Britain
as the National Assembly was meeting, the idea
of rebellion spread throughout France
because of fear, the Louis XVI began gathering
troops at Versailles
French citizens reacted against this troop
movement by storming a prison--the Bastille
Fall of the Bastille
The Bastille was a
prison located in Paris
 the French people saw
the Bastille as a symbol
of the power and
unfairness of the
French government
 July 14, 1789: a large
group of French people
surrounded the prison

 these people were out to
steal weapons to help
defend the National
Assembly from a possible
attack
The people tried to
force their way into the
Bastille
 eventually, the people
were able to get into
the prison, freeing 7
prisoners
 soldiers defending the
Bastille fired upon the
mob of people killing
98 French citizens
 some of the soldiers,
too, were killed by the
mob

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The mob of angry people took over the Bastille
a revolutionary government was set up in the
city of Paris
news of what happened in Paris spread quickly
in France
other areas in France erupted into violence--a
period called the Great Fear
peasants in the country began to arm
themselves for protection
these peasants eventually began violently
combing the country side robbing, pillaging, and
destroying property, driving landlords off of the
land
this was the beginning of the French Revolution