Notes:
French Revolution: Continues
- Fun Fact: during the French Revolution, George Washington became the first President of the USA
More 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 occurred
Old Regime
- in the 1770's, the social and political system of France was called 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 (priest, bishops, deacons, cardinals)
- had to pay 2% of their earnings to taxes
- owned 10% of the lands in France
- Their jobs were to provide religion, education, and relief services to the poor
- less than 1% of French population were 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% of income to taxes
- owned 20% of the lands in France
- this estates had only 2% 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% of income/food taxes
- resented the first two classes
- owned 70% of the lands in France and consisted of 97% of the population
Enlightenment Ideals
- Enlightenment is a complex with many influences, for this chapter we will focus on the influence from USA
- the 3rd estate was becoming very tired of the Old Regime
- they prompted the ideals of equality, liberty, and a democracy
Weak Leader
- Louis XVI (married Marie Antoinette) was a very weak leader
- 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
- 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 5th, 1789 in Versailles
- it was the first time the assembly had met in 175 years
- in the past, the 3 estates would meet separately and there would only be 1 vote per estate
- this allowed for the 1st estate and 2nd estate to always beat the 3rd
Order of Events:
- Storming of the Bastille -
- research, know that France lost their governor, secretary of state, and the "mayor" of Paris
- Emigres -
- someone who has migrated out of an area ........... (Emigrant)
August 26th 1789
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is adopted by the assembly
- is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal
- the US equivalent to this is the Bill of Rights but the Bill of Rights is based upon equality
Legislative Assembly
- late 1789
- Emigres are required to return back to Paris with the threat of death if they didn't return
- King is still scared to return so he removes the idea that they have to come back
- this allows for new blood (3rd estate) to become part of the legislative assembly
Women's March on Versailles
- also known as the October March, The October Days, or simply the March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution
- the march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread
- the market women and their various allies grew into a mob of thousands and, encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles
- the next day, the crowd compelled the king, his family, and most of the French Assembly to return with them to Paris
- these events effectively ended the independent authority of the king
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