The French Revolution

Heidi Palacios
10/28/2016
Ch.Johnson
4th Period

The Revolution of 1789 better known as the French Revolution was a revolution that caused
many changes in France from 1787 to 1799. It ended France's social system where the king was
in control of everyone. There were three social classes. The privileged estates which was made

up of two types of people the first and the second estate. There were many things they had as
privileges including access to high offices and they did not have to pay taxes. These two classes
were made up of clergys of the catholic church and nobles. Their life was easy and enjoyable
unlike the third estate which was made up of 97 percent of the people. It included all of the lower
class people in France. They had no power and hated the first and second estate because of how
unfair they were being treated. They did all the work and had to pay taxes unlike the two upper
social classes. While the first two classes were having fun and enjoying their lives free of hunger
the third estate were working really hard and getting nothing in return but unfair treatment. The
third estate was eager to make changes in France. They wanted to be heard and to be treated
fairly. Although that was a big part of the revolutionary movement there was a few other things
that caused it. Such as, new ideas about government, there were also many economic problems,
and the need for a new type of leadership and social system. Soon all of the third estate were
motivated to make a change, they all had new views about power and authority. They all were
inspired by the success of the American Revolution which was when in North America the
people refused to pay tax ordered by the king of England. The french government was broke
after the revolutionary war and the seven years war. France was the most populated country in
Europe. By the 1780s the once successful and strong economy was decreasing. During these
times there was many more things adding on to their failing economy such as the increase in
taxes which made it almost impossible to manage to control a business. Also everything needed
to live was starting to cost more, there was also bad weather in the 1780s which caused failure in
crop growing which resulted in a shortage of many products. After that everythings price was
higher which resulted in starvation. Another part of the 1780s was that the French government
was in debt. The problem was not the people, but mainly the spending of Louis XVI and the

queen Marie Antoinette. They had been in debt since the throne was inherited to the kling
because of the previous kings, and their spending made it worse. Also when they borrowed
money to help the American revolutionaries it doubled their debt. The bankers then refused to let
them borrow any more money and Louis was in serious problems. Many of these problems could
have easily been solved if it wasnt for their weak leader Louis XVI. he payed little attention to
his advisers and had no patience. The queen only worsened the problem by interfering with these
problems and giving bad advice to the king. Rather than not wasting so much money Louis and
Marie both kept spending money and soon after had no money left. Their way of holding off the
problem and trying to solve it was to force taxes on the nobility. However the second estate
forced him to call a meeting of the assembly of representatives from all three estates to talk over
and approve of his new tax. This was the first meeting held in 175 years. Under this assembly the
third estate delegates, mostly members whose views had been shaped by the enlightenment, were
eager to make changes in the government.They insisted that all three of the estate met and had a
vote. This gave the third estate an advantage because it had as many delegates as the first and
second estate combined. The third estates delegates called themselves the National Assembly and
they passed laws and reforms in the name of the french people. They soon voted to establish the
National Assembly, in order to fight for the end of absolute monarchy and the beginning of
representative government. That was the first act of the revolution.Three days later they found
themselves locked out of their meeting room. They broke the door to an indoor tennis court
saying that they were going to stay until they had came up with a new constitution. This was
known as the Tennis Court oath. Soon after many of the nobles and members of the clergy who
favored reform joined the third estate. In response to all this Louis stationed his army of Swiss
guards around Versailles. In bastille rumors flew saying that louis was going to use military force

to dismiss the national assembly. People began to gather weapons in order to defend the city
against the attack. On July 14 a mob that was searching for arms and gunpowder stormed a Paris
prison the Bastille, they overwhelmed the guard and seized control of the building. This resulted
in the death of the prison commander and several guards. They seized control of the building and
then paraded around the streets with the dead mans heads on sticks. This was a major and
symbolic act of the revolution to the french people. After that there was a great fear that came
over France where the peasants soon became the outlaws themselves. There was also riots made
over the price of bread. Then soon the king, his family, and servants all left the palace and didnt
come back. This signaled the change of power and radical reforms about to take over France.
The revolutionary government of France made reforms but also used terror and violence to retain
power. Some of the governments that lacked the support of the majority of their people still used
fear to control their citizens. Napoleon bonaparte, a military genius, seized power in france and
made himself emperor. At this time in times of political confusion military dictators saw their
chance to take control of nations. Napoleon's conquest aroused nationalistic feelings across
Europe and added on to his downfall. In the 1990s the nation's feelings added onto the breakup
of nations such as Yugoslavia. After expulsing Napoleon, European leaders at the Congress of
Vienna tried to restore order and establish peace. As in for now International bodies like the
United Nations play a role as into trying to keep the world peace and stability.

Works Cited
"French Revolution." Britannica School, Encyclopdia Britannica, 22 Jul.
2016.http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/35357. Accessed 19 Oct. 2016.
Modern World History by Holt McDougal Chapter 7 pages 217-221

They all demanded freedom, equality, and democracy.