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Causes and impacts of the french revolution
French revolution causes and impact
Political impacts of the french revolution
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The main economic goal of the 1789 French Revolution was to end unfair taxes set on the lower classes and make people equals. After The Tennis Court Oath, Women’s March on Versailles, Napoleon’s rise to power, and many other aspects of the Revolution, the goal was achieved. The impact on women, the bourgeoisie, and the nobility were indeed revolutionary.
Before the French Revolution women were basically an object to men. The French revolution started to give women a voice. Instead of just rioting for their rights, women had started attending political clubs and even getting some men to vouch for their rights. One man who vouched for rights was Marquis de-Condorcet. Condorcet wrote “The Admission of Women to the Rights of Citizenship” which basically states that like all adults, including women, were entitled to the rights written in “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”. While women could still not be politically involved, they were granted rights to inherit land and divorce by the end of the Revolution. We might not see land inheritance and divorce as a big deal right now but back then, it was a huge deal and set the stage for other thinkers and people fighting
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They were the heavy lifters who did a ton of work but had to give it all away in taxes. The Bourgeoisie got tired of having no privileges, thus, they revolted. The impact of their revolts were incredible. By the end of the French revolution they granted equal rights. The right to liberty, property, and security were granted to not only nobility and clergy, but the third estate as well. The right to resistance of government oppression as well as freedom of religion were also newly granted. The Bourgeoisie were soon able to help the third estate more by being able to get jobs based on skills rather than just family. While women and the third estate were granted more rights and privileges, the clergy and nobility were losing
Before the Revolution, women were not allowed a voice in the political world. They almost had no rights, especially if they were married. They were granted fewer opportunities than men. Women were to stay at home care for the household and family. However, that soon began to change. When the Stamp Act was passed in 1765, it required colonist to pay a tax on every piece of printed-paper they used. Women refused to pay for the shipped items from the mother country, “The first political act of American women was to say ‘No’(Berkin 13). As from then, an uprising in issues began to unroll. Women began to seek their voice been heard and act out on problems that were uprising, such as the British Tea. As the war broke out, women’s lives changed even more. While men were in compact, they kept their families alive by managing the farms and businesses, something that they did not do before the war. As the fighting advanced, armies would rummage through towns, destroying homes and seizing food-leaving families with nothing. Women were attacked while their property was being stripped away from them; some women destroyed their own property to keep their family safe. “Women’s efforts to save the family resources were made more difficult by the demands of the military.
While the American Revolution was a fight for freedom and independence from another country, the French Revolution was a fight within an established country. The government tried to create new taxes for everyone. From the wealthy to the poor, all were struggling to pay taxes. After much violence and a long time of war, they became a republic and briefly passed male suffrage. Then, the old administrative system was changed into eighty-three territorial departments, giving them all a new name. While preparing to fight, they created the world’s largest army with around 80,000 men. This was an army of citizens representing the nation with officers from middle and lower class. The Revolution raised questions of female political equality. The women made serious political demands by signing petitions listing their complaints about equality. Despite their efforts, women did not gain much during this
Beginning in mid-1789, and lasting until late-1799, the French Revolution vastly changed the nation of France throughout its ten years. From the storming of the Bastille, the ousting of the royal family, the Reign of Terror, and all the way to the Napoleonic period, France changed vastly during this time. But, for the better part of the last 200 years, the effects that the French Revolution had on the nation, have been vigorously debated by historian and other experts. Aspects of debate have focused around how much change the revolution really caused, and the type of change, as well as whether the changes that it brought about should be looked at as positive or negative. Furthermore, many debate whether the Revolutions excesses and shortcomings can be justified by the gains that the revolution brought throughout the country.
Some people like Emmanuel Sieyès, middle-class writer who was taken by the Enlightenment ideas, believed that all of French Society lay on the backs of the third estate. On the contrary, Robespierre, the monarch at the time, believed that the third estate did not have the power to do anything important to society. The third estate had to pay taxes like the Gabelle and Taille while the first and seconds estates did not have to pay any taxes to the king. Also, the third estates had less of a representation in voting. The first and second estate could outvote the third estate every time and this was a huge inequality. The condition of the third estate was horrible but a good portion of this third estate was the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie had some wealth and social class, so they influenced the rest of the third estate about their rights, while also inspiring some lower clergies and provincial nobles and thus led to a group of rebellious people to fight the monarchy. This fight for political representation and political rights was only one cause of the French Revolution. Another causes lies in the French Monarchs: Louis XlV, Louis XV, and Louis XVl. When Louis XlV was ruling, the monarchy had unlimited power and was known as a
The nobles had intended to marry within their own ranks, and making the nobility a closed group” (Spielvogel page 568). The third estate during this time had included people who had been the commoners of society, and they had been the overwhelming majority of the French population. They had been divided by their occupations, level of education, and wealth. The peasants in the third estate had made up 75-80 percent of the total population, owning also about 35 to 40 percent of the land. “The third estate did not just include the commoners of society, but had also included skilled artisans, shopkeepers, and other wage earners in the cities. The third estate had also a struggle for survival and had led them to play an important role in the revolution, especially in the city of Paris” (Spielvogel page 568-569). “Louis had eventually established the estates general and had soon became disappointed, the clergy and the aristocracy can easily vote out the third estate, two to one which they had done repeatedly. The first estate had joined the third estate and when they had joined together the third estate had realized that it had been the only
They say knowledge is power. This was the case for 1789 France, where the “Enlightened” peasants, after years of autocratic dominance from the First, Second Estate and the King, decisively fought and won a revolution for civil liberties and rights, an event which would not have happened had the peasants and lower classes not been literate. But, their literacy did not come immediately. It took at least a century for the peasants to be numerously literate, and even then they were still not as educated as the privileged, wealthy nobility. In addition, different regions in France had access to different rates of schooling, which had a profound effect on how the local peasantry responded to their rulers and events. The levels of literacy in Old
Before the revolution the social structure was three estates consisting of religious leaders at the top, nobles in the middle, and commoners at the bottom. The third estate had two groups, the poor, and the wealthy but not highborn. These wealthier commoners are referred to as bourgeoisie. Of course there was social inequality existing in the system, such as how only the third estate was obligated to pay taxes so high that they could not support themselves, they were also liable to paying tithes to the church, but that money was pocketed by the clergy. Another example of inequality before the Revolution was hunger. Bread at the time was the main source of food for the citizens of France, it was the king’s job to distribute it to his subjects. In order to make sure food is suitably rationed, the markets followed regulated prices and number they could sell per family. But the order fell apart and the regulation was destroyed allowing bread to be either too expensive, poor in quality, or out of stock. The richer citizens hoarded all the bread creating a starvation period among the poorer
The French Revolution evokes many different emotions and controversial issues in that some believe it was worth the cost and some don't. There is no doubt that the French Revolution did have major significance in history. Not only did the French gain their independence, but an industrial revolution also took place. One of the main issues of the Revolution was it's human costs. Two writers, the first, Peter Kropotkin who was a Russian prince, and the other Simon Schama, a history professor, both had very opposing views on whether the wars fought by France during the Revolution were worth it's human costs. Krapotkin believed that the French Revolution was the main turning point for not only France but for most other countries as well. On the other hand, Schama viewed the French Revolution as unproductive and excessively violent.
The French revolution started because of an ongoing “fiscal mismanagement contributed to a French society that was ripe for revolt” (Sparknotes). King Louis XVI was falling into a finical crisis, due to extravagant living. So, in panic, he called financial advisers. After a while, each of them was dismissed from their job. Louis XVI was growing desperate, so he called the Estates-General. This assembly was made to represent three Estates, “the First comprised of the clergy, the Second comprised of the nobility and the Third comprised of the middle and lower classes” (EyeWitness). The Third Estate broke off, and became the National Assembly. People who were part of the National Assembly demanded a new constitution, because the first one became a dead letter right after it was established. The Assembly members took an oath called the Tennis
Returning from the American Revolution with revolutionary and enlightened ideas, the French Citizens decided to revolt against the injustices of the monarchy as their rulers were not prepared to lead them towards a new era of hope and equality. Ideas set by revolutionaries would claim, “Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in fetters [chains],” as mentioned by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1762, which inspired people to create a better lifestyle at the cost of the government (Source ). Building a new foundation based on men’s rights to liberty, fraternity and equality were brought before the revolution due to the suffering of the estates to support the lives of the tyrannical monarchy. Westward outside the borders of Paris, France on May 5, 1789,
Under the rule of Louis XVI, the people of France were divided into three main social classes or estates as they are called. The First Estate featured wealthy members of the Church such as Bishops and Priests who held great political power due to their influence on government affairs. The Second Estate was a class comprised of the wealthy nobles and political officials who held all power in government affairs.
Previous to their rights movement, women, by law, were declared inferior to men, had no separate existence from their husbands and every one of their possessions, acquired or inherited, would be passed on to the ownership of her husband. The children in a marriage belonged to the father alone and the custody of the children if one was to get divorced, was usually given to him. If a woman's husband died, she would receive only the use of one third of his real estate. They could be beaten as long as the stick was no bigger than a man's thumb and single women were excluded from earning a living, with the exception in a few poorly paid trades. They wanted to feel useful to society so during the American Revolution, women, who did not usually participate in the war, actively participated on the home front. They knitted stockings and sewed uniforms for the soldiers. They also had to replace men out in the factories as weavers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and shipbuilders. Other women also volunteered out on front to take care of the wounded, become laundresses, cooks and companio...
During the eighteenth century, France was one of the richest and prosperous countries in Europe, but many of the peasants were not happy with the way France was being ruled. On July 14, 1789, peasants and soldiers stormed the Bastille and initiated the French Revolution. This essay will analyze the main causes of the French Revolution, specifically, the ineffectiveness of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the dissatisfaction of the Third Estate, and the Enlightenment. It will also be argued that the most significant factor that caused the French Revolution was the ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The first and main reason for the French Revolution was the terrible leadership of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.
The Enlightenment and French Revolution included women in some aspects of the political and social ideals. But women were not recognized as fully equal in these ideas. The French revolutionary leader reaction to the Declaration of the rights of women refused to put women’s rights on his political plan. Olympe de
The Third Estate consisted of the bourgeoisie, which was the working class made up of doctors, lawyers, merchants, and then the peasants. Although the Third Estate was 97 percent of the population, they had none of the special privileges that the other estates had. Social mobility was restrained within French society before the Revolution. Privileges were primarily passed down through inheritance, thus straining the social mobility of the nation. The battle for better privileges was ongoing between the 3 estates.