Causes of the French Revolution

Background

• Louis XIV (14)- Divine right of kings (absolute monarch)– Nicknamed himself “Sun King”• Rays of sun reach far and wide… like his power.

• Started the Building of Versailles – A huge palace that strained the French economy

Social Classes • First Estate: The Clergy

1% of pop, owned 10% of land. They had wealth, land and taxed the poor (1st estate paid no taxes).

• Second Estate: The Nobility2% of pop, owned 20% of the land. They also had great wealth, paid few taxes, collected dues from peasants.

• Third Estate: Everyone Else97% of the population. – Top of 3rd estate- bourgeoisie- urban middle class• Merchants, manufacturers, lawyers. (many were

wealthy)• Below them came Proletariat

– artisans, city workers, and peasants

Nobles

Clergy

BourgeoisieProletariat

The gap in classes grows• 1st and 2nd made peasants pay higher rent.– Food prices went up, wages stayed about the same

(whose life does this alter?)• Poor don’t like paying taxes while the rich do not pay any

and have lots of food

– The poor blame the king for letting prices get too high

– Peasants riot in streets– 1st two estates wanted to protect their most

important freedom…. Not having to pay taxes

3rd Estate Wants….

liberty and equality (natural rights)

• What similarities do we see between the causes the American Revolution and the French Revolution?

Why was there a need to tax?

• King Louis XV’s (15) racked up a lot of debt: wars, kept expanding Versailles

• Do not write the quote– “It will survive for my time. After me, the deluge.”

–King Louis XV – What does this mean?– It meant that Louis XV didn’t care what happened

to France after his death

Long live Louis XVI (16)

• Louis XV dies. • Louis XVI takes over as King and marries

Marie-Antoinette (very expensive wife)• French debt continues to grow, meaning

prices continue to rise…so people can’t eat• What did France do in the mid-late 1770s that

cost a lot of $$?– French involvement in the American Revolution

angered people (costs $$)– Expanded Versailles

Versailles

Versailles

Versailles

Versailles

Hall of Mirrors

Hall of Mirrors

kings room

Represent your Estate• Debt causes Louis to try and tax the 1st and 2nd Estate

– they refused (say what!?)• He called the Estates General to approve a tax (Reps

from each estate)– • In the past each Estate would meet separately and had

vote one (who is getting the short end of the stick?)• so the 1st and the 2nd would team up on the 3rd

• 3rd Estate had as many representatives as the other 2 estates combined… they wanted each individual to have a vote. They refused to meet separately for this reason. • Why would they want the individual representatives to

each have 1 vote?

Tennis Court Oath

• Louis tells them they have to meet separately• 3rd Estate ditches the Louis and creates the

National Assembly. • They meet at a tennis court in Versailles and

swore to stay until a constitution was written – Known as the Tennis Court Oath

Victory with out violence… Not

• Louis hears about the oath and calls for all the estates to meet.– Ends up telling the 3rd estate to take a hike• They refuse,

– "We are here at the will of the people, . . . and . . . shall not stir from our seats unless forced to do so by bayonets.“» What does this mean??

– Louis was unwilling to use force and eventually ordered the 1st and 2nd estates to join the new National Assembly. The Third Estate had won…. For now

Video Background info• Declaration of Rights of Man: basic human

rights/ political powers– All men are equal– Freedom of speech, press, and religion– Right to fair trial

• Jacobins- politicians in Paris should control gov in France– Robespierre and his friend Danton• Robespierre will run the show

– Jean Paul Marat- extreme radical Jacobin• (wrote radical views in a newspaper)