What Changed in French Society as a Result of the Early Events of the Revolution?

The revolution had been a result of the inability of the monarchy to address the fiscal problems as well as the grievances of the people as a result of a combination of bad harvests and rising costs of living. From the early events of the revolution, the third estate had been able to improve their social status, the National Assembly had been able to obtain rights and equality for those who were not protected by the law before and also resulted in the Reign of Terror.

As a result of the early events of the revolution, the third estate had been able to elevate their status and this can be seen by drawing a comparison between the pictures of The Past and The Present as well as A Tenant Farmer In Drudgery and I Really Knew We Would Have Our Chance. Previously before the revolution, the third estate had been able to make ends meet with the decent harvests they reaped. However in the few years before the revolution, the pressing problem of bad harvests due to bad weather had caused many from the Third estate to starve as they incomes decreased. As bad harvests persisted, the bourgeoisie (merchants from the third estate) got furious from the lack of being able to afford decent housing and from the high levels of unemployment as well as the rising costs of bread. The government on the other hand, attempted to collect more taxes by insisting that the first and second estates contributed taxes. However, due to Louis XVI's miscalculation back in 1774 when he revived the Parlement thinking they would be able to back him up, the Parlement who had been primarily made up of Nobles rejected his proposal to tax the clergy and the nobles. Despite these, Louis had sought to keep his popularity by financing the American Wars hoping that by doing so, after the Americans had won the war, he would be seen in a more favourable light. In doing this, he was only worsening France's fiscal crisis. As a result, he was forced to call on the Estates General which last convened in 1614. This caused a lost in confidence in the crown and many first and second estates people joined the third estate and formed the National Assembly. King Louis XVI had made all the preparations to meet the demand of the National Assembly. When he refused to open the doors to allow them to enter the building, the National Assembly convened at a nearby tennis court instead and there swore loyalty to the cause of improving the quality of life. This came to be known as the Tennis Court Oath. Meanwhile the remaining third estate stormed the Bastille on the 14 July and Louis XVI was forced to face the fact that his people would not settle without a compromise. Thus the Declaration of the Rights of Man was drawn up, addressing issues which the general public was concerned about.

All these can be found in relevance to the pictures where in The Past, which meant before the revolution, the third estate were cropping the lands and harvest was still good. They were able to make ends meet despite having to pay their feudal lords tithes in order to crop the land but they still had some income from good harvests. The first and second estate were still able to continue riding on the economy primarily ran by the taxes paid by the third estate and this is shown in the picture where they are depicted as riding on the third estate and the third estate cropping the lands. The background is drawn with plants and animals and from this we can infer that prior to the revolution, farming was prosperous then. Compare this to the picture of The Present, we can see that now, after the early events of the revolution, the third estate is standing on equal grounds as the first and second estates. The scale which the clergy is holding represents liberty and equality. The peasant is also not depicted to be as pathetic as before. He is now better clothed which means that incomes had increased and is standing upright. From here, we can infer the lifting of the burden of taxes. As for the background, we can see that the crops and animals had died and this is in relevance to that of the bad harvests that the third estate was experiencing.

As the events of the revolution continue to unfold, Louis XVI found that the power to rule the country had been increasingly decreasing. What with the right to Veto the King's decision and the National Assembly calling most of the shots, he and his family moved to live in Paris in the Castle of Versailles leaving the fiscal crisis back in France to worsen. As the women in the bourgeoisie struggled to meet ends meet and feed their families, they