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Why the third estate benefitted from the french revolution
Why the third estate benefitted from the french revolution
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SOC 20-1 Unit 1
Source Analysis Assignment
The first source is a political cartoon that is about the three Estates of France, pre-1789. The cartoon shows the different members of the three Estates and their perceived roles. The Third Estate (commoners), Second Estate (nobility) and the First Estate (clergy). This source advocates the idea that the First and Second Estates overpowers the Third Estate, resulting to their suffering. The old man (Third Estate) is drawn with bigger body shape than the other two people riding him (First and Second Estates), this shows that the whole body or population of the Third Estate were a lot bigger than the First and Second Estate. Although they had way bigger population than the other two Estates they were
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He said “I am the state”. The belief of the author of this source was to tell people how King Louis XIV was thinking. This source supports the idea that Louis XIV held all political authority and was absolute. When the author of the source said “I am the state” he is suggesting that King Louis XIV was absolute in power. Literally means Louis XIV was the state itself. It demonstrates his power and political authority. (LINKS). People might support this source but it all will depend on what is happening in their respective country and what are their situations. Thinking in the French Revolution perspective, the Third Estate will go against this source because they were the victims of the King’s ignorance. The King could not care less for his people. He was more interested in sending his people to war. Although the Third Estate would come out against this source, people from the Second Estate might come out supporting it. It’s not just the Second Estate because the First and Second Estates have had good relationship with each other for ages both of them will likely come out supporting this source. Both of the parties benefits from each other. This might is one reason for them to support this type of
“Society was cut in two: those who had nothing united in common envy; those who had anything united in common terror.” The French Revolution was a painful era that molded the lives of every citizen living in France and changed their ways of life forever. Beginning in 1789 and lasting ten years until 1799, the people of France lived in a monarch society under King Louis XVI’s rule. He was a very harsh ruler and had many restrictions placed on his people. They eventually overthrow him and become a monarch society. Among his deceptive ways, the people also experienced “The Reign of Terror,” which was a period where many lives were taken by the guillotine. Other revolutionary events included rebellions, constitutions, and groups. One of the popular groups that contributed greatly to the French Revolution were the Jacobins who were led by Maximilien Robespierre.
The three main contributory factors that I am going to focus on are the aristocracy, rising debt levels and inequality amongst the people of France. The role that King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette had before and during the revolution was a key factor in starting the revolution. His attitude towards his role as king was poor. He was shy, indecisive and disinterested in politics from a very early age and this continued throughout his reign. During the years leading up to the revolution, France was in massive debt after the Seven Years War. Combined with this, there was a famine which increased the price of bread and brought a lot of the country to the brink of starvation (Kinser, 1999). Louis and Marie Antoinette's eating habits did not help reassure the French people of Louis' competency as a ruler. They gorged themselves on fine cuisine as their people starved all around the country (Cavallaro, 2001).
The social condition in France before the French Revolution was very poor. The society was divided into three estates: first estate, second estate, and third Estate. The first and the second estates were made up of the Clergy
In many ways, the French Revolution and Arab Spring are comparable. The French Revolution was divided into 3 large social classes called estates. Between 1500-1800, European rulers began ruling their countries with very few limits on their power. THis rise in power created a division in social and political classes across Europe and was a fundamental cause of the French Revolution, which led to the death of Queen Marie Antoinette. Queen Marie Antoinette was not the only “Absolute Monarch” in Europe.
At the beginning of the 17th century, France was a place of internal strife and bickering bureaucrats. The king, Louis XIII, had come to the throne in 1610 at the age of nine, leaving the running of the kingdom to his mother, Marie de Medici. One of her court favorites, Armand de Plessis de Richelieu, rose through the ranks, eventually gaining the title of Cardinal and becoming one of Louis’ key advisors and minister. His political manifesto, Political Testament, was a treatise for King Louis XIII that offered him advice mainly concerned with the management and subtle subjugation of the nobles and the behavior of a prince. Beneath all of the obeisant rhetoric, Richelieu was essentially writing a handbook for Louis XIII on how to survive as a king in a political landscape increasingly dominated by the aristocracy. Richelieu’s ideology shows a pragmatic attitude reminiscent of The Prince, a political work by 15th century Florentine politician Niccoló Machiavelli.
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.
Before the Revolution, France experienced a period of time called the Enlightenment. Traditional concepts, such as religion and style of government, were debated upon by scholars, philosopher, and ordinary people. One of the most famous writers of the Enlightenment was philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He introduced the concept that the people should be in charge instead of an individual ruler. This idea became known as the general will. In his “Ths Social Contract” Rousseau states, “Each of us puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will, and, in our corporate capacity, we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole” (Rousseau). Throughout the future French Revolution, Rousseau’s writings became a cornerstone to the French people. His ideas gave the French people a definition on why the position of the King should be abolished. What was even better, Rousseau even described why the people be placed in charge. At the time of the Revolution an enormous amount of France’s power was allocated to the King and very little was left for the people. In order to achieve more power for themselves, the citizens of France lobbied against a monarchy and instead for Rousseau’s philosophy that the collective whole should rule. Under the ideas of Rousseau, all French citizens would receive power because the collective whole was the governing power. However, obtaining such intentions required that the people abuse the traditional powers of France as Furet
The French Revolution was a period of political upheaval that occurred in France during the latter half of the 18th century. This revolution marked an end to the system of feudalism and the monarchy in France and a rise to democracy and new Enlightenment ideas. By 1789, when the revolution began, France was in a deep financial crisis due to the debt they had obtained over many years of reckless spending and France was nearly bankrupt. These financial issues fell almost completely on the bottom social class or the Third Estate which made up a majority of the country. Because of this financial trouble the common people were heavily taxed leaving many of them in poverty. In addition to the economic issues, France also held an Estate System that led to heavy
During the eighteenth century, France was one of the most 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 is the ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
The Third Estate consisted of everyone else, the pheasants, farmers, landless labourers, serfs and the emerging middle class called the bourgeois. 80% of the population was rural and were very highly taxed by the king, like the rest of the Third Estate.... ... middle of paper ... ... Overall, the weakness and indecisive actions of France's monarch, King Louis XVI, did not make those serving him respect or be loyal to him and his choices.
Smith, Whitney. "Flag of France." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
English author and columnist, Ian Davidson, in his historical novel The French Revolution: From Enlightenment to Tyranny suggests that although the French Revolution was necessary for the progression of timea domino effect more or lessperhaps it happened not for the reasons one would assume. Davidson analyzes and writes about every aspect of the events leading up to, as well as the ones that took place during the revolution in order to designate all of the cards on the table and, ultimately, make assertions. Which makes his purpose all the more obvious; to present all of the facts that the world knows in time about The French Revolution and present it in a manner that forces the reader to view this historical event from a different angleas
Richelieu states, “apply yourself to the matters of greatest importance to your country, disdaining the little ones as beneath your thought and interest.” This illustrates the desire for strong governmental organization, obviously with the king being the highest power. The way Richelieu explains the organization here also allows for ‘servants’ under the king to help the government run smoothly in his name. Conveniently, by encouraging the organization in this way, Richelieu also carves out an indispensable place for himself among the king’s ‘servants’, ensuring that his services are always necessary in order to keep the smaller things in check while the king deals with the most important issues. This also shows the emergence of the organization of the government into an an apparatus of the state, not just an apparatus of the
Monarchs and emperors are prevalent in almost all of European history. But there is one example in European history where there was a leader with a monarch’s mentality without the title. In French history, Napoleon made himself to be that leader. In the era following the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte created for himself – and allegedly the French people – an empire that swept the majority of Europe during the late 18th and early 19th century. Napoleon Bonaparte did in fact make the dreams of the French Revolution a reality but only through manipulation of the vulnerable French people. Although he gave them the peace, nationalism, and equality they desired, he used these as excuses to further his quest for a French empire. This makes
Revolutionary period started at 1765, and ended at 1815. Revolutionary period is between colonial period, and romanticism. During the French and Indian war to protect the America, the British had triumph in this war. However, Britain fall into lots of debt. They need to gain money through their colonies, so they began to force the taxes to America. For examples, British required through ‘Stamp Act’, and ‘Tea Act.’ Because of these too many taxes, American started to resist to British to use the ‘Boston Tea Party’, and “No taxation without representation.” British react with the violent way, which is 'Boston Massacre'. Five people died, when British fired on the crowd. Through this event, American colonies tried to independent from British.