The Causes of The French Revolution and The Political, Economic, and Social Changes It Wrought

The French Revolution was a time of turmoil and instability, which lasted from 1789-1814. Caused by years of rule by an incompetent, totalitarian ruler who was out of touch with his subjects. The people of the Third Estate, who made up a majority of the population, were fed up with the lavish lifestyle that the First Estate enjoyed. While the Third Estate did most of the hard work and menial tasks, they received the smallest income. They were also taxed much harder than the wealthy were. Many political, economic and social problems also affected the people of France which contributed to their anger. This caused hateful tensions to develop between the Third Estate and the First and Second Estates, thus sparking the flames of war. The French Revolution led to major changes not only in France, but in other nations and regions around the world.

Before the French Revolution, the Third Estate was the most populous Estate in France. A stunning 98% of the population was apart of the Third Estate: the Commoners; That left 1.5% of the population to belong to the Second Estate: the Nobility, and.5% of the population to belong to the First Estate: the Clergy. However, the Third Estate was the only state that had to pay government taxes (Doc 2). This angered the commoners because they were paid very little to begin with. On July 12, 1789, Arthur Young traveled to France and was joined by a poor women who complained of her life, “Husband had but a morsel of land, one cow, and poor little horse…A franchar(4216.) of wheat, and three chickens, to pay as a quit-rent to one Seigneur (noble); and four franchar of oats, one chicken and 1 sou (small unit of money to pay to another, besides very heavy tailles (taxes on land and its produce) and other taxes.” (Doc 3). This woman and her husband had very little to support themselves and they had to pay numerous taxes with the little they had. Most of the Third Estate lived life this, dissatisfied with their lives. Not only were the commoners upset about this, in addition, their ruler Louis the 16 spent all of the money from the taxes on himself and his wife Marie Antoinette. She was from Austria, but continued to spend the people of France’s money. Louis the 16″ was absolute, and ruled by the divine right theory. This theory claims that he received his power to gover from God and was therefore responsible to God alone. Louis the 16 controlled the people of France; he even strictly censored people’s speech and press (Doc 1). These economic and social problems motivated the Third Estate to revolt against the First and Second Estate.

The Third Estate soon became hungry for change. They were sick of the unfair lives they lived and decided to do something about it. The Third Estate established the National Assembly, which ran like an underground government. This came about after the Third Estate was kicked out of a meeting to talk about reforms. They decided to have their own meeting at a tennis court, and to not stop their anger until a new constitution was written. This came to be called the Tennis Court Oath. Since the Third Estate contained 98% of the population, the National Assembly took over France from 1789-1791. During this time a Constitutional monarchy was established, Feudalism was abolished, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was adopted (Doc 4). The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen attempted to redefine the relationship between the individual and the government. It made every man eligible to take part and/or take a high position in the government. It gave people freedom of speech and press. Most importantly, it made all men free and equal in rights (Doc 5). While France was under the control of the Legislative Assembly between 1791-1792, the Constitutional monarchy was undermined. However, during September of 1792, France declared a Republic, and became ruled by the Committee of Public Safety (Doc 4). The Third Estate’s motivation to change the government and the way they were treated, was starting to pay off. France was now politically and socially changing.

Things began to look bright for the Third Estate, until the Reign of Terror began led by Maximilien Robespierre. During this time, people were afraid to even leave their homes. Helen Williams, a foreigner living in Paris in 1793, explained her view of the people in France, “After two months in our new prison, we were released… So we were free, but we were watched. We could see very few people and went out little. We feared to go out, in case, without realizing it, we committed some transgression that would lead to being arrested again. We hardly spoke to anyone, for there were spies everywhere, and we jumped at each knock at the door, fearing arrest.” People in their own town, were living in fear of being arrested for things they didn’t intentionally do. Both guilty and innocent people were executed by the guillotine and thrown in prison (Doc 6). In 1794, Robespierre was overthrown and executed for his Reign of Terror. In the years proceeding. The Directory ruled France; this contained 5 directors who ruled as an executive. However, in November of 1799, Napoleon overthrew the government in a coup d’etat (Doc 4). By this time, the French Revolution had caused much change in France. Education had been reorganized and many more museums and libraries were built to add onto the educational system. Frenchmen could enjoy the freedom and speech and freedom of press (Doc 7). Many political, economic, and social changes were caused by the French Revolution.

The French Revolution is known as a major turing point in world history. It did not only cause change in France, but also in other nations and regions around the world. According to Thomas E. Kaiser, in France one change that resulted from the French Revolution was serfdom and slavery were abolished (Doc 9). Serfdom was a part of Feudalism, which was abolished in the early 1790s in France. Mainly, the commoners political, economic, and social rights changed. This improved their lives and the government. Other nations and regions outside of France were also effected by the French Revolution. For example, Thomas E. Kaiser found that The French Revolution provided instruction” for revolutionaries outside of France later in time. This made people aware of the different kinds of freedoms. To be specific, 200 years after the French Revolution, Chinese students revolted against their government in Tienanmen Square. It was then confirmed that these students used knowledge of the revolutionary bicentennial parade in Paris on July 14, 1989 for their revolt (Doc 9). The French Revolution was a critical time in history, as it effected many different nations. It brought change to political, economic, and social problems in France, and even motivated people in other nations to do the same.

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