The French Revolution

The French Revolution The French Revolution was fought between the years of 1789 and 1799,

and violently changed France from a monarchical state to a modern

nation in which social power was loosened and power was mostly in the

hands of the middle classes. There are many causes of the French

Revolution. As the population grew, the food supplies grew short; land

had become divided into such small parcels that most Frenchmen lived

close to the subsistence level; and after 1776 agricultural recession

forced property owners to exploit their sources of revenue. Also their

involvement in the American Revolution had caused them to raise taxes.

The French Revolution started at the storming of the Bastille on July

17. On August 26, a group of high placed citizens wrote the

Declaration of Rights. On October 5, a mob forced the king and his

queen to step down from the throne. This ended the monarchy, but in

1799, Napoleon Bonaparte was established first consul by the

constitution of 1799. The American Revolution went from 1776 to 1783.

The Cause was many, many unneeded, over priced taxes. The new year,

1778, was a time of transition in the Revolutionary War because of

Britain's inability to win in the northern colonies and because of the

increasing part played by France. The French foreign minister, the

Comte de Vergennes, eager to settle an old score with Britain,

convinced his royal master Louis XVI to permit France to funnel secret

aid to the patriots in 1776 and 1777. That aid took the form of the

government's handing over munitions, arms, and clothing to the