french revolution: Fun fact: during the french revo, George Washington became the first president of the U.S.A.
beginnings- stared in 1789 and lasted until 1799. in 1700's France and England were considered the most advanced countries in Europe and the world. it had large population and great (good or bad) foreign trade.
old regime- in the 1770's the social and political system of France was call the old regime. under this regime, there were 3 large social classes called estates.
first estate- made up of clergy of the roman Catholic church. had to pay 2 percent of their earnings to taxes. owned 10 percent of the lands in France. their jobs were to provide religion, education, and relief services to the poor.
2nd estate- this group was made up of rich nobles. they held the highest offices in the government in France. this estate paid 0 percent of income to taxes. owned 20 percent of the land in France. this estate had only 2 percent of the population of France.
3rd estate- included everyone that wasn't in the first two estates. had no power to influence their government in France. had to pay 50 percent of income/ food to taxes. resented the first two classes. owned 70 percent of the lands in France and consisted of 97 percent of the population.
enlightenment ideals- is a complex with many influence, for this chapter we will focus on the influence from USA. the 3rd estate was becoming very tired of the old regime. they prompted this ideals of equality, liberty, and a democracy.
weak leader- Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. he was very indecisive and paid very little attention to his advisers. Marie didn't help much either with constantly expressing her opinion and the fact that she was from Austria.
estate- general, an assembly of representative from all three estate. their goal was to approve the new tax. the meeting was held on may 5 1789 in Versailles. it was the first time the assembly had met in the 175 years. in the past, the 3 estates would meet separately and there would only be one vote per estate. this allowed for the 1st and 2nd estate to always beat the 3rd. this king sided with the nobles again and they were outvoted.
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