French Revolution Research Paper

Improved Essays
The main causes of the French Revolution were the poor condition of the French monarchy, economic depression, and the social inequalities the majority of the French populace. The French Revolution began in 1789 and lasted until 1799. It resulted in radical social, political and economic change throughout France.
One cause of the French Revolution were the population’s discontents with the government at the time. The main reason for their resentment was the legal division among the social groups that had been ongoing for several centuries. The French were separated into three estates, religious leaders or clergy making up the first estate, nobles in the second, and the peasants, commoners and bourgeoisie in the third estate. The members of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    One of the primary causes of the French revolution was the Third Estate’s poor treatment by the King of France, the First Estate, and the Second Estate. For example, in the political cartoon titled, “The People Under the Old Regime,” three fat people are riding on the back of a skinny person (Doc A). The three fat people represent the King of France, the First Estate, and the Second Estate while the skinny person represents the Third Estate. The image demonstrates how unfair the social system of France before the French Revolution was because it shows the Third Estate as a starving, chained, and blindfolded man carrying the overweight and well-dressed upper classes of France. Moreover, In the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a document the National Assembly submitted to King Louis XVI, one of the changes that…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The French Revolution was divided into three social classes the clergy (first estate), the nobles (second estate) and the peasants (third estate). The upper class (the clergy and the nobles) raised the tax prices on the third estate but they didn’t have to pay taxes. They also raised the price of bread which made most of the peasants starve and they would fight over the loaves of bread. But later the third estate creates something known as the National Assembly and they created the Declaration of the Rights of Man which changed many things. There were many things that caused the French Revolution but the main reasons are the inequalities between the social classes, The Enlightenment, and the American example.…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The French Revolution, which started in 1789 and ended in 1799, brought many political and social changes to France. The French Revolution began because the 3rd Estate, which was comprised of peasants and bourgeoisie, was frustrated by the large amount of taxes and also that their voice was not being heard in government. In the beginning of the Revolution, many changes were made based on enlightenment ideals. However, toward the end of the Revolution in 1794, these enlightenment ideals were twisted by Robespierre. Although an effort was made to use enlightenment ideas, it was eventually unsuccessful when the Revolution turned more radical.…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    French Revolution Dbq

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages

    During the late 1700’s, the citizens of the Third Estate in France suffered from a severe economic crisis caused by deficit spending, failed harvests which led to famine, and tax inequality across the three estates. In June of 1789, the poor, hungry citizens of France rose up in revolution against the monarchy and overthrew the king’s rule in pursuit of a constitutional government. While the eventual arrival of the Age of Napoleon brought relative peace in France, his rule strayed from the constitutional monarchy the revolution demanded for. For this reason, many have argued on whether or not the French Revolution truly succeeded in achieving its goals; however, evidence suggests it was much more unsuccessful than it was successful. The French…

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Though the wealthiest, this Estate was also tax-exempt. The largest estate, comprising ninety-seven-percent of the French society was everyone else not included in the first two estates. This class paid all the taxes and had little to no say in the…

    • 2098 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Proceeding the French Revolution, the significant imbalance of power held a prominent role in French Society and incited the uprising of the third, commoner estate through the corruption it caused. Consequently, as the Enlightenment philosophies began to flourish, deconstruction arose as a key component of the French enlightenment ideals. Therefore, the French revolutionaries pursued not an initiative of chaos, but the purposeful goal of deconstructing the corrupt centralized structures of French society utilized to oppress the powerless: the Catholic church, gender confinements, and class divisions. Prescribing to the post-structuralist doctrine, the revolutionaries strove to eliminate the hierarchy of societal constructs, allowing the natural…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Today in class we discussed the French Revolution. The three main factors that led to the French Revolution was the middle class (Bourgeoisie) wanted a government that would respond to their needs, shortage in wheat, and lastly a major debt problem. France’s debt was accumulated from the Seven Year’s War, the American Revolution, and lastly the construction of Versailles by Louis XIV. A wheat shortage led to the issue when the lack of supply of wheat drove wheat prices to inflated levels. This caused the middle class to seek a constitutional monarch.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The French Revolution crisis started with the unfair tax system. This system eventually caused immobility and bankruptcy. In the 18th century, the French population has been increasing and most of the citizens lived throughout the countryside. The people who rented the lands from the prosperous lords needed to pay them with crucial taxes, in order for the people to produce their harvest. Usually, the lords would give their taxes that they received to the king, but most of them were selfish and stored it for themselves.…

    • 126 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The unfair distribution of powers, rights, and wealth between the citizens of France was the main cause of the Revolution. Prior to the revolution, the Kingdom of France practiced the Ancient Regime, a political and social system “based on the concentration of all political, social and economic power between three classes, the monarchy, the clergy, and the aristocracy” (Bastille). Citizens of France were separated into three distinct estates. The First Estate consisted the French Catholic Clergy. The Second Estate comprised of the nobility, with its leader the king and his advisors.…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Causes and Impact of the French Revolution America’s triumph over Britain in 1783 ignited the belief that a revolution could spark the necessary economic, social, and political changes that the impoverished masses in France so desired. Famine, disease, and poverty swept through pre-revolutionary France. These factors entwined with the despot political system inflamed a decade long revolution and catapulted France from a feudal society into a dominant world force. The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 marked the beginning of radical changes for the country of France the same way the Massachusetts’ “shot heard around the world” on April 19, 1775 marked the beginning of dramatic changes for the colonies of America. The French people revolted…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    French Revolution Weapons

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte. The revolution was caused by A poor economic and an unmanageable national debt, both caused by an unfair system of taxation. Which led to war between the french and americans. The weapons have changed since the french revolution, and so did the classes of soldiers that used the weapons.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The French and American revolutions were similar due to the fact that both were against longstanding European monarchies. While a key difference is that the French were revolting against their monarchy due to a feeling of unfair treatment of the population. The populations of both countries were revolting in protest to the treatment of the people and the taxes that were levied against them. The French revolution started in 1789 and lasted until the 1790s, during this time the French citizens completely overthrew their old government and set up a new one that was designed to be fairer to the majority of the populous ("French Revolution). In the years leading up to the revolution France was almost bankrupt due to their involvement in the American…

    • 2394 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This occurred in France from 1789-1799. Some of the causes of this revolution were social, economic, financial, and cultural. France was heavily in debt. They were in debt because France had fought against Prussia and Britain in the Seven Years War. They had also served as allies with the colonies against Britain in the American Revolutionary War.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There were many different causes that led to the French Revolution. There was an excessive monarchy, overspending of money being, a ton of debt, and rising taxes. The debt was caused from The Seven Years war where the French came out defeated, also from the generous spending during the American Revolution. France had an average amount of debt compared to other countries but “the problem lay with the inability of the royal government to tap the nation’s wealth through taxes to service and repay the debts” (pg. 551). Taxes began to get higher and the peasants had the highest load of taxes, making it almost impossible to pay them.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The French Revolution led to the French monarchy being destroyed, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, armed conflicts with other European countries, and influence on other countries as well as other impacts across the globe. The French Revolution occurred under King Louis XVI, who was eventually executed. French society was dealing with high taxes and bad harvests which led them to dislike the government. They disliked the government because they were jealous of the privileges enjoyed by the…

    • 1579 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays