Causes of the French Revolution On the twenty second page in the 5th chapter of the third book of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens writes: “Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death;-the last much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!” The books A Tale of Two Cities are set during the French Revolution. In the above quote, Dickens was stating the things people could give to the prisoners and why death was the most common. France, at the time, had no middle class. There were the rich and the poor people, the rich were divided into two groups. The two groups were the church and the government. The first chapter of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities and The Crisis of the 1780s and Causes of the French Revolution article by Robert
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4). France had completely exceeded their ability to pay their debts. Consequently, according to The Crisis of the 1780s and Causes of the French Revolution article by Robert Wilde, the third estate, made up of the common and poor people, was expected to pull France out of the crisis, while the first and second estates, the first being the government of France and the second being the church, spent money on parties and entertainment. In fact, Robert Wilde also says that the reason the third estate was poor and the and the first and second estates were rich was that the third estate paid their taxes to the first and second estates, who didn’t have to pay taxes. In addition, the first and second estates have too much power over the third estate. Dickens shares an example in his book where a kid didn’t bow down some monks over 50 yards away in the rain and was punished with torture, then death. Dickens also says that murders could and would occur with little effort towards justice from the government. He also says that since people were so poor, even businessmen would become …show more content…
People took risks similar to Dickens’ example because they were extremely poor. Robert Wilde wrote that one reason France was so poor was because they had acquired most of the more than one billion livres they spent on the American Revolutionary War from loans. Robert Wilde also talks about how Calonne came up with a plan to pull France out of debt. His plan was to replace many existing taxes with a land tax even the nobles had to pay. Not wanting to pay taxes, the one hundred forty four members of the national assembly decided to refuse Calonne's plan. That decision put an end to Calonne’s plan. Wilde talked about the ineffective system of checks and balances France had. In 1771, Paris’s parlement didn’t work with Maupeou, the Chancellor. To solve this problem, Maupeou simply got rid of the parliament and made his own system. Another instance in The Crisis of the 1780s and the Causes of the French Revolution by Robert Wilde that shows that the leadership in France was too powerful was when, when faced with complaints, the king said “it is legal because I wish it.” Another thing Robert Wilde talked about was how the 5% of the population of France consisting of the clergy and nobles could outvote the third estate, making up 95% of the population of France. The bourgeois sent hundreds of petitions to the king demanding
4). France had completely exceeded their ability to pay their debts. Consequently, according to The Crisis of the 1780s and Causes of the French Revolution article by Robert Wilde, the third estate, made up of the common and poor people, was expected to pull France out of the crisis, while the first and second estates, the first being the government of France and the second being the church, spent money on parties and entertainment. In fact, Robert Wilde also says that the reason the third estate was poor and the and the first and second estates were rich was that the third estate paid their taxes to the first and second estates, who didn’t have to pay taxes. In addition, the first and second estates have too much power over the third estate. Dickens shares an example in his book where a kid didn’t bow down some monks over 50 yards away in the rain and was punished with torture, then death. Dickens also says that murders could and would occur with little effort towards justice from the government. He also says that since people were so poor, even businessmen would become …show more content…
People took risks similar to Dickens’ example because they were extremely poor. Robert Wilde wrote that one reason France was so poor was because they had acquired most of the more than one billion livres they spent on the American Revolutionary War from loans. Robert Wilde also talks about how Calonne came up with a plan to pull France out of debt. His plan was to replace many existing taxes with a land tax even the nobles had to pay. Not wanting to pay taxes, the one hundred forty four members of the national assembly decided to refuse Calonne's plan. That decision put an end to Calonne’s plan. Wilde talked about the ineffective system of checks and balances France had. In 1771, Paris’s parlement didn’t work with Maupeou, the Chancellor. To solve this problem, Maupeou simply got rid of the parliament and made his own system. Another instance in The Crisis of the 1780s and the Causes of the French Revolution by Robert Wilde that shows that the leadership in France was too powerful was when, when faced with complaints, the king said “it is legal because I wish it.” Another thing Robert Wilde talked about was how the 5% of the population of France consisting of the clergy and nobles could outvote the third estate, making up 95% of the population of France. The bourgeois sent hundreds of petitions to the king demanding