1. Background to the Revolution
The French Revolution & the beginning of a new United States of America both happened in 1789, and both had far-reaching consequences.
long-range problems & immediate forces caused the French Revolution.
French society was based on inequality
divided into three estates: the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd.
The 1st Estate (clergy) – 130,000 people.
exempt from the taille, France’s chief tax.
The 2nd Estate (nobility) - about 350,000 people.
held leading positions govt & special privileges, exempt from taille.
The 3rd Estate (commoners) – 26,500,000 people.
peasants, artisans, & the bourgeoisie (middle class)
98% of population, owned 50% of land
(pages 329–331)
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Section 1-7

2. Background to the Revolution (cont.)
Both aristocrats & members of the middle class were drawn to the political ideas of the Enlightenment.
This opposition to the existing order led them to drastic action against the monarchy.
The immediate cause of the French Revolution was the near collapse of the government’s finances.
The French economy suffered a series of crises for 50 years, and the number of poor reached as high as 1/3 of the population.
The French government continued to spend lavishly on wars and court luxuries.
The government of Louis XVI was finally forced to call a meeting of the Estates-General, which had not met since 1614.
(pages 329–331)
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Section 1-11

3. Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.
Background to the Revolution (cont.)
Compare the causes of the French and American Revolutions.
The French Revolution was caused much more by poverty and social inequality than the American Revolution. Life in the American colonies for the middle and lower classes was better than in France.
(pages 329–331)
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Section 1-14

4. From Estates-General to National Assembly
Each order of French society had representatives in the Estates-General.
most members of the 3rd Estate wanted to set up a constitutional government that would abolish the tax exemptions of the clergy and nobility.
The 3rd Estate was much larger than the other two.
It favored a system of each member voting, but the king upheld the traditional voting method of 1 vote per estate.
The 3rd Estate calling itself a National Assembly & deciding to draft a constitution.
They were locked out of their meeting place and moved to a tennis court next door.
known as the Tennis Court Oath.
(pages 331–332)
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Section 1-15

5. From Estates-General to National Assembly (cont.)
The king eventually ordered the 1st & 2nd Estates to join the National Assembly
July 14, commoners stormed & dismantled the Bastille, the royal armory and prison in Paris.
The king’s authority collapsed.
Local revolutions broke out over France against the entire landholding system.
Peasant rebellions took place and became part of the Great Fear, a vast panic that hit France in 1789.
Fearing invasion by foreign troops in support of the monarchy, people in the countryside formed militias.
(pages 331–332)
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Section 1-18

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From Estates-General to National Assembly (cont.)
Why did the Third Estate favor a system in which each member of the Estates-General could vote?
The Third Estate had many more members than the other two estates. Under the old system the single vote of the First Estate and the single vote of the Second Estate together could outvote the Third Estate. The change to each member having a vote would give the Third Estate much more say in matters.
(pages 331–332)
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Section 1-20

7. The Destruction of the Old Regime
Aug 4, National Assembly’s first acts was to renounce aristocratic privileges.
Aug 26 - the NA adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.
proclaimed freedom & equal rights for all men
access to public office based on talent
an end to exemptions from taxation.
all citizens were had the right to take part in lawmaking
freedom of speech and press were recognized.
Louis XVI stayed at Versailles and refused to accept the laws of the National Assembly.
(pages 332–335)
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Section 1-21

8. The Destruction of the Old Regime (cont.)
Thousands of Parisian women armed with pitchforks, swords, muskets, and the like marched to Versailles.
At the crowd’s insistence, the royal family returned to Paris, escorted by thousands of women with pikes.
As a goodwill gesture, the king brought along flour from the Crown’s storerooms.
The royal family was virtually held prisoner in Paris.
The NA adopted its Constitution of 1791, set up a limited monarchy with a king & a Legislative Assembly with the power to make laws.
The Legislative Assembly met for the first time in 1791.
(pages 332–335)
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Section 1-24

9. The Destruction of the Old Regime (cont.)
Other European monarchs, including the rulers of Austria and Prussia, threatened to help Louis XVI.
In response, the Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria.
France lost the battles with Austria, and distrust began to grip France.
Defeats in war and economic shortages led to new political demonstrations.
Radicals formed the Paris Commune and attacked the royal palace and Legislative Assembly.
Capturing the king & taking control (led by the sans-culottes)
The French Revolution was about to enter a more radical phase.
(pages 332–335)
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Section 1-28

10. The Destruction of the Old Regime (cont.)
If you were a hungry peasant with starving children, how would you react to Louis XVI’s bringing flour from the royal storeroom on his forced return to Paris?
One imagines the gesture had the opposite of its intended effect. The peasants likely felt the gesture was a patronizing ploy that was way too little way too late.
(pages 332–335)
Section 1-31