French Revolution

Jim dandy

Dr. Grobo

#3- French Revolution

2/20/08

The French Revolution started in 1789 because there was political, economic, and social turmoil throughout the country. All of the power was in the hands of the aristocracy which did not make up even close to the majority. The third estate was poor, hungry, and in need for a change. Enlightenment ideas helped spark a change for action which meant changing the way the government was operating and serving their people. In actuality they were not really serving them, they were ruling them. The third estate rebelled against the aristocracy in France because the government was not doing their job.

In 1789 France had roughly twenty four million people in its country and twenty three million made up the third estate. Fifty thousand made up the aristocracy and the rest were made up of the church. There was such a bad balance and that meant that most of France was suffering. France was in debt because they helped the United States in the war against Britain, and the government was not dealing with it. They were also going through horrible agricultural years where there was a shortage of bread, prices were then increasing and people wound up starving. France was struggling as a country and that forced people to make a change. Members of each estate met to discuss the problems and find a solution, but the third estate was poorly represented. The argument was that the third estate is everything, but not represented and protected. They wanted representation, political power, and proportional representation. Also, people of the third estate were the only ones being taxed. There were a lot of problems going on so they held a meeting as the National Assembly in June of 1789. It was called the Tennis Court Oath because they vowed not to move until changes were made. In reaction to the National Assembly’s stand, King Louis XVI called fourteen thousand troops because he was afraid a rebellion would occur. A rebellion did occur when they stormed the Bastille fortress and in one night abolished the feudal structure of France.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man, which mimicked the American Constitution, was setup by the National Assembly and it declared inalienable rights such as liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression to individuals. A key person who helped write