french revolution :: essays research papers

French Revolution Questions The Outbreak of the Revolution: 1) French society around 1789 was split into three groups of people or the Three Estates. The First Estate consisted of the clergy or the leaders of the church. The Second Estate were the nobles who were highly privileged. The Third and final estate consisted of peasants, city workers, and the middle class, all of which were taxes heavily and underprivileged. 2) The complains of the Third Estate were they were being taxed to heavily, they had land too small to support their families, and they lived in poverty compared to the other classes. The only complaints that the Second and First Estates had were that they would not pay taxes and that the Third Estate complained too much. 3) In 1789 under the reign on Louis XVI France faced an inefficient government, which was nearly bankrupt. There was a shortage of food and the food they had was incredibly expensive. 4) A meeting of the Estates General was called in May of 1789 because the nobles refused to be taxed and Louis XVI hoped they would approve of a new tax plan. The problem they had was they were not able to decide on a method of voting. 5) The bourgeoisie wanted all the Estates to meet together with each delegate having one vote. Seeing as they had about half of the delegates represented there they would have a better chance to bring about change. 6) On June 17, 1789 the Third Estate’s delegates decided to force the other Estates to meet as one body so they created the National Assembly and invited the others to join. 7) The â€Å"Tennis Court Oath† was an oath in which the people took demanding a constitution for France and they swore not to leave until this was done. The king responded by giving in after a week and he ordered all the nobility and clergy to join the National Assembly. 8) The people of Paris stormed the Bastille on July 14th, 1789 because they were angry about food shortages and high prices, as well they feared the king’s soldiers would crush the National Assembly and plunder the city. 9) The effect of the â€Å"storming of the Bastille† on the revolutionary moment was it caused the king to pull back his troops and it saved the National Assembly. This caused a rebellious spirit to move across the county.