Villalobos Eamon Barkhordarian

Period C 12/11/08

Review Questions pg. 170

1. Identify
a. Ancien Regime
i. The “old order” that had emerged in the middle ages. France still
clung to this outdated social system. Under this social system,
everyone in France belonged to 1 of 3 classes: The first estate
(clergy), the second estate (nobility), and the third estate (the vast
majority of the population like peasants).
b. Jacques Necker
i. A financial wizard chosen to be the financial advisor of Louis XVI.
He urged the king to reduce extravagant court spending, reform
government, and abolish burdensome tariffs on internal trade. When
he proposed taxing the first and second estates, the nobles and high
clergy forced the king to dismiss him.
c. Cahiers
i. Notebook that all three estates would list their grievances in. Many
cahiers called for reforms such as fairer taxes, freedom of the press,
or regular meetings of the Estates Generals. The cahiers testified to
boiling class resentments.
d. Tennis Court Oath
i. An oath taken place on a tennis court. The delegates swore “never to
separate, and to meet wherever the circumstances might require until
we have established a sound and just constitution.”
e. National Assembly
i. After weeks of stalement, delegates of the Third Estate took a daring
step. Claiming to represent the people of France, they declared
themselves to be the National Assembly. They then invited delegates
from the other estates to help them write a constitution.
f. Bastille
i. A crowd gathered around Bastille demanding weapons and
gunpowder believed to be stored there. The commander of the
Bastille refused to open the gates and his men opened fire on the
crowd. Many people were killed but finally broke through the
defenses, killing the commander, but found no weapons in the end.
2. Define
a. Bourgeoisie
i. The middle class
b. Deficit spending
i. The government spending more money than it takes in
3. Why were members of the Third Estate discontented with conditions under the old
regime?
a. They wondered why only they were paying taxes, and taxes that were quite
high for them for they had close to no money. It was unfair how they were
Villalobos Eamon Barkhordarian
Period C 12/11/08

at the bottom of the social class and had fewer rights. Even the smallest rise
of the price for bread might bring the threat of starvation to some of the
lower class.
4. What economic troubles did France have in 1789?
a. They were careless with their money. They spent more money than they
took in. This resulted in them using a significant portion of the money they
collected for taxes just to pay off the debts for the loans they had.
Eventually, this resulted in the economic decline in France.
5. What issues arose when Louis XVI called the Estates General in 1789?
a. After he called the Estates General, the storming of Bastille occurred which
began the French Revolution, so the Estates General was linked to the
storming of Bastille.
6. What was the significance of the storming of Bastille?
a. It marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Normally, massacres
begin revolutions (for example, one reason the American Revolution started
was the Boston Massacre). In this case, it was considered a massacre when
the Bastille commander commanded his troops to open fire on the
townspeople.