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The French Revolution

The French Revolution. Liberté , Egalité , Fraternité ! . Background Causes. On Common Sense Thomas Paine 1776. In your copy, highlight the sentence you find to be the most powerful in the entire pamphlet. Document #1 … ?. Cause #1 – American Revolution. Concepts of Empire.

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The French Revolution

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  1. The French Revolution Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité! Background Causes

  2. On Common Sense Thomas Paine 1776 In your copy, highlight the sentence you find to be the most powerful in the entire pamphlet. Document #1 … ?

  3. Cause #1 – American Revolution

  4. Concepts of Empire

  5. Were the colonists justified in declaring their independence from Britain? What do you think?

  6. France wanted to support America in its struggle against Great Britain • Sent supplies and soldiers, invested money • Soldiers returned to France with first-hand experience on how a revolution could succeed • American Revolution provided practical example to France • Bill of Rights (1789): many rights came from natural rights philosophy of 18th C philosophes – European intellectuals saw American Revolution as embodiment of Enlightenment’s political ideals Connections to French Revolution?

  7. Social Contract Jean Jacques Rousseau 1762 “Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains” Document #2 … ?

  8. Cause #2 – The Enlightenment

  9. Though parts of the Social Contract do not embody Enlightenment ideals, the idea of the Sovereign being the people and voicing the General Will makes us think of reason, moving away from strict monarchies, and questioning the ‘status quo’ – all ideas of the enlightenment

  10. What is the Third Estate? Abbe Sieyes 1789 • What is the third estate? Everything. • What has it been in the political order up to the present? Nothing. • What does it demand? To become something… Document # 3…?

  11. Political cartoons during French Revolution. How would these images help spur the revolution? How would an illiterate French citizen interpret these images?

  12. Cause #3 – The Three Estates

  13. First Estate • Clergy • 130,000 • Church owned 10% of land • Exempt from taille (France’s chief tax), but agreed to pay “voluntary” contributions • Divided: higher clergy from aristocratic families (shared interests with nobility), parish priests poor commoners • Second Estate • Nobility • 350,000 • Owned 25-30% land • Exempt from tailler • Held leading roles in government, law courts, military • Divided: Nobility of the robe (status from office holding – commoners could attain noble rank), and Nobility of the sword (descendants of original medieval monarchy) The Estates System

  14. Third Estate • Vast majority – 98% of entire population! • Main burdens of taxation on third estate • Differences in occupation, education, wealth • Peasants 75-80% of total population • Owned 35-40% of land • Taxes were crushing: to King, the taille, poll, tithes (produce of land) • Urban working class • Artisans, shopkeepers, other wage earners living in cities/urban areas • Bourgeoisie (middle class) 8% of population (2.3 million people) • Merchants, industrialists, bankers – controlled resources • Professionals: lawyers, doctors, writers, held public offices • Owned 20-25% of land • Wealthy bourgeoisie could enter nobility • Resented not having freedom to criticize unfair system of government The Third Estate

  15. The King Must Die!Maximilien Robespierre 1792 “The King must die because the nation must live.” Document # 4 …?

  16. Cause #4 - Poor Leadership ( and Marie Antoinette)

  17. Louis XVI • 16th Louis • King of France after death of grandfather (Louis XV) • Largely viewed as indecisive and inconsistent, incapable of proper leadership Marie Antoinette • Austrian (daughter of Maria Theresa) • Married Louis to form alliance between Austria and France • Queen of France: 1774 • Charming and beautiful, but very out of touch with needs of own people • “Madame Deficit” Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette

  18. Video excerpts from PBS “Marie Antoinette” (30 mins) What do you think – Was Marie Antoinette a victim of the public or the villainess they believed her to be?

  19. Travels in France Arthur Young 1787, 1788, 1789 First-hand view of peasant life in prerevolutionary France. Document # 5 … ?

  20. Cause #5 – Finances and poverty

  21. Tax Crisis: Monarch did not tax effectively Problem 1: Individuals collecting taxes from peasants only gave small amount to government (rest kept for selves) Problem 2: Tax exemptions for First and Second Estates France in debt (aiding American Revolutionary War), monarchy living in luxury Population increase (due to better medicine, agriculture) = more people to feed Drought (1787-88) and severe winter (1789) resulted in crop failures, causing inflation of food (wheat, bread) prices. Led to riots, government was bankrupt and powerless to act. Problems

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