The French Revolution

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The French monarchy had just arisen out of the ashes from the Seven years’ war and the assistance to the American Revolution only heightened the nations rising debt problem, even though it was one of the most prosperous and most powerful nations of that time. They were profoundly in financial ruin from the wars as well as the taxes. One of the major dilemmas was the French government inability to collect the sufficient amount of taxes from the people. The French also enjoyed political freedom – a luxury that no other country had established as of yet. The monarchy and the nobles were severely disliked; this was a result of the taxes. Louis XVI and his nobles had placed very high taxes on the lands of the peasants as well as the bourgeoisie. The taxes were so outrageous, that no one could bear to pay them. The taxes were put on place to support the lavish and greedy lives of the wealthy aristocrats (Craig, 2009). The fall of the French monarchy was in part due to the rising ambitions of the growing merchant, tradesman and prosperous farmers, as well as the rising taxes and prices of the wheat. Those ambitious people were also met by the aggravated peasants, wage earners, and artists. The rich monarchy and nobles were growing richer, while the other half were getting steadily poorer. However, power was soon to shift hands. As things changed, the monarchy and those of the birthright titles were traded out for those who held more of a political office. This led to much more aggravation, conflict and more bloodshed (The other side, 2001). French estates general had three divisions, the first estate, of the clergy, the second of the nobility and the third representing everyone else. There was debate over how much of a vote each of... ... middle of paper ... ...f the government to uphold these rights of the citizens of France. There was also a section that stated that all men were innocent until proven otherwise. Most importantly, was the right to attempt to hold and trade, regardless of birthright, title or monetary value of the person. This would give a greater amount of people a greater chance to better their lives and expand. Because of this, things that were not important, such as child rearing coming second to the need to survive was now coming to the forefront of living (Craig, 2009). Works Cited The other side. (2001, January 2). Retrieved August 14, 2011, from Heritage: http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/revolution.htm Great Fear. (2008). Retrieved August 14, 2011, from History wiz: http://www.historywiz.com/greatfear.htm Craig. (2009). World Civilization. New Jersy: Pearson Prentice Hall.

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