French Revolution Unit: Eve of the Revolution
MEH
Name______________________________________________________________________ Date_______________________ Per___________
DO NOW: Analyze the political cartoon. What message is it sending? Explain what each of the four men
represents.
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Qu’est-ce que le tiers état? What is the Estate? (fill in the pyramid below.)
Ancien Regime  Old Order
Clergy
 enjoy ______________________________________________
 Church owns ____________________________________, collect ___________________________, no
___________________________
 Enlightenment ideas target the ______________________________________________________ (Clergy)
Nobles
 Hold top government jobs
___________________________, ___________________________& ___________________________
 Feared ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vastly Diverse Third Estate
 ______________________________________________________ at top
___________________________, merchants, ___________________________, ___________________________, doctors,
___________________________, ___________________________
French Revolution Unit: Eve of the Revolution
MEH
 MOST were ______________________________________________________
The French Revolution
 all three estates had ________________________________________________________________________________________.
 Wanted to improve their condition by _____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
 Third estate felt the most stress:
provided ___________________________and ___________________________.
Paid ______________________________________________________
Causes: Enlightenment Ideas & Philosophes
 The Enlightenment Ideas:
______________________________________________________
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 Philosophes:
 Locke defended private property, __________________________________________________________________________
and ______________________________________________________
 Voltaire attacked ___________________________________________________ and the ________________________________
authority
Causes: American Revolution & Economy
The American Revolution: 1775-1783
 ideas of the ______________________________________________________in action
 French soldiers (______________________________________________________) came home inspired
 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
French economy was failing:
 __________________ of government’s income went to ______________________________________________________
 No _________________________________________________________________________________or paper currency
 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(Varied by region and estate)
Causes: Feudal System
 Estate System outdated
 difficulties to __________________________________________________________________________ of Third Estate
 Difficult to ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
 The poor/peasantry ________________________________________________________________________________________
 ______________________________________________________1787-1788
________________________________________, ______________________________________________________,
____________________________________________________________________________, unemployment in cities
Causes: Louis XIV
 ______________________________________________________
 “______________________________________________________”
 ______________________________________________________
 ______________________________________________________
 Marie Antoinette allowed him
“_________________________________________________________________________________”
French Revolution Unit: Eve of the Revolution
MEH
Outbreak: Estates-General
 May 5, 1789: Estates General convenes at Versailles
 First time in 175 years (1614)
 All three estates prepared cahiers (notebooks) listing their grievances “Cahiers de doleances”
 Fairer taxes, freedom of press, regular meetings of the Estate-General
Outbreak: Estates General
 Reps from Third Estate – Lawyers, middle class officials, and writers
Familiar with Voltaire & Rousseau
 Went to Versailles to solve financial crisis and reform
 Disagreed on how to vote
 Tradition: each estate met and voted separately, each estate had one vote
 First and Second Estate always outvoted the Third Estate
 The Third Estate wanted all estates to meet in a single body and count votes “by head”
Tennis Court Oath
 June 17, 1789: The delegates of the Third Estate declared themselves to be The National
Assembly
 June 20, 1789: The Oath of the Tennis Court
 Meeting hall was locked and guarded
 Met at an indoor tennis court
 Swore, “never to separate and to meet wherever the circumstances might require until we have
established a sound and just constitution.”
 Tension between king & Assembly
Storming the Bastille
 July 14, 1789: Paris
 More than 800 Parisians assembled outside the Bastille
 Demanded weapons and gunpowder rumored to be stored there
 Commander of Bastille refused & opened fire on the crowd
 Crowd killed the commander, set free prisoners, found no weapons
 Importance: Challenged the king & won
 Celebrated every year since 1880
What is the significance of “La Place de la Bastille”?
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