Third Estate: Prior To The French Revolution

In the years leading up to the French Revolution, the public’s opinions did not matter, but as more people demanded changes to the monarchy’s modus operandi and the end of absolutism, tensions among the various classes grew. With less censorship and more safety in rebelling against the king, people were more outspoken and influenced others as a result. Members of the Third Estate began to feel confident voicing concerns about the nobles and the monarchy, and there was plenty of literature published supporting their actions. While the Third Estate’s strength grew, the nobility and the monarchy had fluctuating opinions regarding this intensifying matter. Riding its new powerful wave of significance, the public (mostly the Third Estate) used …show more content…
The king, however, did have some input from the Estates General, and that was the only way people got their voices to the king. Aside from those cahiers that reached the king, the people had no say in what the monarchy decided, and that was how it was supposed to be. The clergyman Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet explained to Louis XIV that it was the king’s divine right and responsibility to take care of France. As long as he met the needs of the people, the king did “not have to justify himself to anyone for what he commands.” This seemingly simplifies the structure of the government because the king did not have to wait for another political body to agree with him; but on the other hand, the king’s commitment to his authority laid the foundation for the rise of absolutism in the years leading up to the revolution. When Bossuet wrote this advice, the people physically mattered, but their ideas did not. The lack of attention from the government was a factor in the French Revolution, and at this point, the people did not care that they did not have a say, but later, it became a fierce point of …show more content…
Sieyès reminded the people of France that the Third Estate made up over half of the population of France, and therefore, it was imperative that the monarchy consider their opinions when making significant policy changes. According to Sieyès, the Third Estate made up a complete nation, and the nobility was actually a hindrance to the nation because they extracted time, money, and energy from everyone else in order to benefit themselves. Here, another rift between the nobility and the third estate appeared. Sieyès went so far as to say that, “the States-General as we know it at present is simply a cleric-nobili-judicial -assembly”, further distancing the Third Estate from the other two estates to prove that even the calling of the Estates General was not enough to fix the inequalities the Third Estate experienced. With the public especially concerned with their amount of representation and Sieyès’ pamphlet spreading, they eagerly awaited change within the