French Revolution 3rd Estate

The French Revolution started in 1789 when the Third Estate (the commoners) of France revolted against the government. They were unhappy that they had to pay disproportionately high taxes, and were underrepresented in the voting of the Estates General (the governing body). As the Third Estate learned of the ideas of the Enlightenment, they became the leaders of the French Revolution. The common folk owned much more land than the First Estate (the Church) and the Second Estate (the Nobles), but they had to pay almost all the taxes. From Travels in France by Arthur Young, we learn that the Nobles were taxed very little, and the commoners were taxed heavily (D1). The common folk had to pay 50% of their income in taxes, but the First Estate paid about 1% of their income in taxes, and the Second Estate only paid about 2% …show more content…
In the Estates General, each Estate got one vote even though over 95% of the French people were in the Third Estate (D2). We know that the First and Second Estates always voted together, and overrode the vote of the Third Estate. From excerpts from cahers (complaints) brought to the Estates General by the Third Estate, we learn that the Third Estate wanted all the votes to be proportionate to the number of people in each estate so they would be represented more fairly (D3).
A third cause of the French Revolution was the Enlightenment Period, which was a time when European philosophers began a movement away from tradition toward reason and individualism. Many educated people from the Third Estate knew about the Enlightenment writings, and used those ideas, along with their frustration about high taxes and underrepresentation in the Estates General, to fuel the Revolution. We know from Albert Mathiez’s The French Revolution that the Third Estate led the Revolution because they knew the most about Enlightenment ideas