2. Immediate Causes: 1.Bankruptcy of France a.Built Versailles b.Helped in American Revolution c.No taxes for 1 st and 2 nd estates d.Finance ministers ignored 2.Estates-General Abuses of Old Regime: Political abuses 1.Absolute Monarch by Divine Right 2.Favoritism (not ability) for government office positions. 3.Censored speech and press. 4.Corrupt and inefficient government. Other Causes: Influence of English and American Revolutions Laissez-Faire unpopular government leaders

3.  1789  To solve financial crisis  Had not been called since 1614 (175 years)  Admitted king could not solve France’s problems

4.  Representation  1st and 2nd Estates each had 300  3rd Estate had 600  Voting  Each estate had 1 vote  First 2 estates could outvote 3 rd

5.  3rd Estate led by members of 1 st & 2 nd estates  3 rd Estate demanded that Estates General be changed into a National Assembly  Each member (not estate) would have 1 vote  King Louis XVI rejected it

6.  3 rd Estate:  Kicked out of Estates General  Broke into an indoor tennis court  Declared themselves to be the National Assembly  Tennis Court Oath – pledged not to leave until they had finished writing a constitution  Wanted a new constitution constructed to give more power to the lower estate

8.  June 17, 1789, 3 rd Estate renamed the themselves to “The National Assembly”  Mostly bourgeoisie class citizens  They began to pass laws and reforms in the name of the French People!  1 st official act of revolution  This ended absolute monarchy in France National Assembly (1789-1791)

9.  Abolished:  Unfair taxes/tithes  Tax exemptions of privileged  All class distinctions  Guild restrictions on trade and manufacturing  Paris mobs pressured Louis to give in to National Assembly

10.  Senseless panic fed by wild rumors spread all over France.  Peasants all over the land began destroying nobles property and burning legal papers.

11.  Louis XVI tries to make peace with 3 rd Estate by yielding to the National Assemblies demands. Orders 2 nd and 3 rd Estates to join 3 rd in the National Assembly.  Sensing trouble, sends mercenary Swiss guards to Paris (no longer trusted French soldiers)  Rumors that king was sending troops to disperse Assembly  In reaction, Paris mobs stormed the Bastille in search of gunpowder  Destroyed July 14, 1789

12.  October, 1789  7,000 women (?)  Due to bread prices  Demanded royal family return with them to Paris

13.  Men are born free & equal with rights to:  Liberty  Property  Security  Resistance to oppression  All citizens are entitled to voice in making laws  All persons are guaranteed  Equality before the law  Freedom from unlawful arrest  Freedom of speech, press, and religion

14. The Declaration of the Rights of Man: Gave all citizens the natural rights of  Life  Liberty  Property  Speech  Religion These rights were declared for men only (not women).

15.  1792-1795  First French Republic  Tried Louis on charges of treason  Both King and Queen were beheaded  Louis’ death alarmed other monarchs  About 3,000 people were executed in Paris about 40,000 total deaths from the country including Robespierre.

16.  Write a post card to the Americans talking about the events of the Revolution  Write a pamphlet describing why you should join either the loyalist or the revolutionaries  Newspaper article on one of the events  Storming of the Bastille  Woman’s march on Versailles  The guillotine  The National Assembly