French Revo.: Continues
Fun fact: During the French Revo., George Washington became the first President of the U.S.A. in 1789.
Revo.: 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 the 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 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
- Less than 1 percent of French populations 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 percent of income to taxes
- Owned 20 percent of the lands in France
- This estates 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 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 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 to Marie Antoinette) was a very weak leader
- He was very indecisive and paid very little attention to his advisors
- 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 5, 1789 in Versailles
- It was the first time the assembly had met in 175 years
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