- French Revolution: Fun Fact
- During the French Revolution, George Washington became the first president of the United States of America.
- French Revolution: Beginnings
- Started 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 a large population and a great (good and bad) foreign trade.
- However, much of the world did not know the extreme debt that France had gained.
- Old Regime
- The social and political system of France was called the Old Regime.
- Under this regime, there were three 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 ten percent of the lands in France their jobs were to provide religion, education, and relief services to the poor.
- Less than one percent of the French population was in this estate.
- Second 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 lands in France.
- This estate had only 2 percent of the population of France.
- Third 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 their 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
- Enlightenment is a complex idea with many influences, for this chapter we will focus on the influence from the USA.
- The third estate was becoming very tired of the Old Regime.
- They prompted the ideals of equality, liberty, and a democracy.
- Weak Leader
- Louis XVI (married to Marie Antoinette) was a very weak leader.
- He was very indecisive and paid very little attention to his advisers.
- Marie didn’t help very much, either, with constantly expressing her opinion and the fact that she was from Austria.
- He finally wanted to tax the nobles, but they weren’t happy there either so the Estates-General was called.
- Estates-General
- An assembly of representatives from all three estates.
- 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 over 175 years.
- Most kings held a strong monarchy, so there was never any need to call the assembly together.
- In the past, the three estates would meet separately and there would only be 1 vote per estate.
- This allowed for the first and second estate to always beat the third.
- The king sided with the nobles again, and they were outvoted.
Research Part: Individually – 1 paragraph for Tennis Court Oath. 1 paragraph for Storming of the Bastille. Due 11:59 pm tonight.
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