There was almost a century of events that built up causes to the French Revolution. King Louis XIV’s reign lasted until 1715, which in his time, he built up a majority of France’s debt because of his project, the Palace of Versailles. Then, King Louis XVI’s wife, Marie Antoinette built up more debt because of her high maintenance lifestyle. Another extension to the debt build up was the war costs from the French contribution in the American Revolution, which inspired the French Revolution. Because of all the debt on the country, the people were heavily taxed, but only the commoners, or what made up the Third Estate. The main causes of the French Revolution was the taille, non-representation of the Third Estate, and the power of the church.
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And with no help from the government, a taille was put on them. They were taxed heavily, while the nobles and the clergy were not taxed at all. The common people were, at this point, peasants, who were starved, and some homeless. The bourgeoisie were apart of the Third Estate, but they were higher class than the peasants, yet still poor and unable to pay these strict taxes. In 1789, at the start of the French Revolution, the Third Estate formed their own organization called the Nation Assembly. They wrote “The Declaration of the Right of Man and the Citizen” which had a list of right in which every person in the nation has equally. In the thirteenth statement it declared, “A general tax is indispensable for the maintenance of the public force and for the expenses of administration; it ought to be equally apportioned among all citizens according to their means.”(Doc 5.3). This targeted the unfairness of the taille on the commoners, while ignoring to tax the nobles and …show more content…
Parts of the French Revolution was inspired by the Enlightenment period which debunked the Church’s power, but the First Estate was still in power over the nation. In “The Civil Constitution of the Clergy”, passed by the National Constituent Assembly, a list of articles states the laws that the French Church has to follow and the limits of power that the priests and bishops have; This is shown by the laws in this document such as “In order to be eligible to a bishopric, one must have fulfilled for fifteen years… the bishops elect shall take a solemn oath... No bishop shall absent himself from his diocese more than two weeks consecutively during the year... “ (Doc 5.4). An important article in this is VI of Title IV, which states, “Bishops, parish priests, and curates may, as active citizens, be present at the primary and electoral assemblies…” (Doc 5.4). The point of this document is to make the clergy just as equal and limited as everyone else in the nation. There were many causes of the French Revolution but the misrepresentation of the people was one of the biggest because all of the problems, like debt, that the nation faced, was put on the Third Estate, while the nobles, clergy, and the monarchs lived lavish lifestyles. France was able to overcome these unfair policies after the French Revolution by establishing rights
And with no help from the government, a taille was put on them. They were taxed heavily, while the nobles and the clergy were not taxed at all. The common people were, at this point, peasants, who were starved, and some homeless. The bourgeoisie were apart of the Third Estate, but they were higher class than the peasants, yet still poor and unable to pay these strict taxes. In 1789, at the start of the French Revolution, the Third Estate formed their own organization called the Nation Assembly. They wrote “The Declaration of the Right of Man and the Citizen” which had a list of right in which every person in the nation has equally. In the thirteenth statement it declared, “A general tax is indispensable for the maintenance of the public force and for the expenses of administration; it ought to be equally apportioned among all citizens according to their means.”(Doc 5.3). This targeted the unfairness of the taille on the commoners, while ignoring to tax the nobles and …show more content…
Parts of the French Revolution was inspired by the Enlightenment period which debunked the Church’s power, but the First Estate was still in power over the nation. In “The Civil Constitution of the Clergy”, passed by the National Constituent Assembly, a list of articles states the laws that the French Church has to follow and the limits of power that the priests and bishops have; This is shown by the laws in this document such as “In order to be eligible to a bishopric, one must have fulfilled for fifteen years… the bishops elect shall take a solemn oath... No bishop shall absent himself from his diocese more than two weeks consecutively during the year... “ (Doc 5.4). An important article in this is VI of Title IV, which states, “Bishops, parish priests, and curates may, as active citizens, be present at the primary and electoral assemblies…” (Doc 5.4). The point of this document is to make the clergy just as equal and limited as everyone else in the nation. There were many causes of the French Revolution but the misrepresentation of the people was one of the biggest because all of the problems, like debt, that the nation faced, was put on the Third Estate, while the nobles, clergy, and the monarchs lived lavish lifestyles. France was able to overcome these unfair policies after the French Revolution by establishing rights