InNo+kathryn_chang+09.1.10


 * __ My Notes on Pg. 21-25 of the French Revolution __**


 * The Estate General **


 * The Voting System
 * Estates General meet whenever the king wanted to consult it
 * not often (last time was 1614)
 * was made up of about 750 members, about 250 from each estate
 * met in three separate rooms, each estate had only one vote
 * third estate complained that this voting system was unfair
 * the nobles and clergy would be able to out-vote the third estate two-one
 * asked for double the numbers and give each member one vote each
 * king reluctantly agreed (only to double the third estate but he wanted the Estate General to decide upon itself to give one vote each
 * The Food Crisis
 * finance not the only problem facing the government
 * in the countryside- mass hunger
 * caused by freak weather
 * 13 July 1788- a massive hailstorm destroyed cornfields, vegetable plots, orchards and vineyards all over central France
 * followed by a drought
 * drought was followed by very cold weather (rivers froze which stopped the watermills from grinding flour
 * blocked roads which prevented food from reaching markets
 * snow suddenly thawed in the spring, floods ruined huge areas of farmland
 * harvest of 1788 was very poor
 * result of the awful weather was a sharp rise in the price of bread
 * poor families were now spending nearly all their earnings just on bread
 * since the families spent all their money on bread, they stopped buying things like clothes, shoes, candles and fuel
 * the factories that made these things lost business
 * many workers lost their jobs
 * all this led to riots and strikes in many parts of the country
 * The Complaints Lists
 * with hunger and unemployment spreading, elections for the Estates General were held in spring 1789
 * voters were asked to make a list of changes that they wanted the Estates General to discuss with the king
 * over 60,000 of these 'lists of complaints' were drawn up
 * millions of people had great expectations of the Estates General
 * it seemed to many people that the king was interested in their problems and that he was going to take action to solve them
 * The Estates Meet
 * 5 May 1789- first meeting of the Estates General
 * over a thousand deputies met in the largest hall in Versailles
 * long speeches were said by the King and his chief ministers
 * then the three estates were told to split up and carry on the meeting in separate halls
 * the third estates was not happy
 * each estate had only one vote each and so they could be outvoted by the clergy and nobility
 * they refused to discuss anything as a separate group
 * would only take part in the Estates General only if the nobles and clergy joined them in a single 'National Assembly'
 * the nobles and clergy refused to do so
 * after weeks of argument, the third estate gave them an ultimatum
 * if at the end of the week, the nobles and clergy had not joined them, they would start the work of the Estates General by themselves
 * was an act of defiance against the king
 * Louis angrily ordered a Royal Session of the Estates General
 * Louis was losing control of events at Versailles
 * 19 June, the clergy decided to join the third estate
 * following morning, the third estate arrived at the palace to welcome the clergy into their meeting hall but then the doors were locked and guarded by soldiers
 * inside, workmen were preparing it for the king's Royal Session
 * The Tennis Court Oath
 * The third estate were angered and excited because of the king's Royal Session
 * they feared that Louis was going to break up their assembly by force
 * rain was falling and they took shelter in the nearest empty building: a tennis court less that two minutes away
 * inside, they took an oath to carry on the meeting until they had changed the way France was governed
 * 23 June- when the king held his Royal Session and ordered them to meet in their separate estates, they refused to move "We shall only leave at the point of bayonets"
 * 27 June- instead of having the soldiers to make them leave, he ordered the nobles and clergy to join them in a single assembly
 * The National Assembly became France's legal parliament
 * to many people these events seemed like a revolution

__**Review and Assessment**__

1. and Dues || The poor had to pretty much pay for every single thing they borrowed or used, the oven, the mills, the press. They also had to do several hours of unpaid work for the landlord, give the landlord part of their crops, and had to pay the landlord taxes. The landlord could also, trample over their crops while hunting, could keep rabbits and pigieons out to eat their crops || The Third Estate ||
 * || Things that People Disliked || Kinds of People who Disliked these things ||
 * Society || The Third Estate did not have any privileges || The Third Estate ||
 * Taxation || The Third Estate was the only estate that had to pay all the taxes, the first and second estate was exempt from most taxes but they also avoided most of their taxes that they had to pay || The Third Estate ||
 * Feudal Rights
 * Law || Refusals to allow non-Catholics to follow their own religion. The law where people can be tortured to death. The methods of executions were horrifying. || Mostly third estate, people who are victims and people who witnessed the executions ||
 * Government || King Louis gave Marie Antoinette the petit Trianon which she made into a small town looking poor. King Louis could put a name in an envelope and the person who's name is in their will be exiled or imprisoned. The King's ministers could also use them. The French were spending much more than they were receiving, the government has been in financial debt for about a hundred years. || The Third Estate, some first and second estate ||

2. The law, taxation, feudal rights and dues, society, and government were all unfair. On one side, the people were very rich, they had houses that had many bedrooms, on the other side, the people were so poor that they shared a one room house with about five people. Also, the first and second estate had so many privileges but the third estate had no privileges. Even though the third estate was the poorest and had the most population, they had to pay the most tax and had no privileges. The feudal rights and dues were also very unfair, even thoughthe peasants work very hard to grow crops, it allows the landlords to pretty much kill it by trampling over it and for the pigeons and rabbits to eat their crops. Also, if people are non-Catholic, then they are not allowed to follow their own religion. I think that this alone is enough for people to want France to change the way that is was run.

3. E. The government spent more each year than it received in taxes, so... B.The government was deeply in debt, so... G. the Finance Minister planned to raise money with a new tax on land. But... A. an assembly of nobles and clergy refused to agree to the new tax, so... C. Louis XVI ordered a meeting of the Estates General, hoping it would agree to the new tax. But... I. the government went bankrupt, so... D. the Third Estate deputies took over the Estates General and turned it into a National Assembly, so... H. Louis XVI decided to hold a royal session of the Estates General, and warn the third estate not to defy him, but... F. the deputies gathered in a tennis court and swore an oath that they would continue to meet. Causes: E, B, G, I, C Consequences: A, D, H, F

4. Political Social Economic
 * People thought the king and his ministers had too much power
 * Nobles disliked the government's plans for a new land tax because they would lose their privilege of tax exemption
 * People disliked Marie Antoinette's extravagant spending
 * People disliked the fact that Marie Antoinette was Austrian
 * Many poor people blamed the government for high prices and unemployment
 * Many poor people blamed the government for high prices and unemployment
 * Nobles disliked the government's plans for a new land tax because they would lose their privilege of tax exemption

5. I think that the fact that the king and his ministers had too much power was the most important in the reasons for the government's unpopularity. I think this because the king sends out sealed letters with someone's name in it (which he could not possibly know) and that person would be exiled or imprisoned. Also the king could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted too.

6. I think that even if Louis XVI had not married Marie Antoinette, he would still be unpopular because he had too much power and the government was unfair. But, if he did not marry Marie Antoinette, he would be a little less unpopular than when we was married to Marie Antoinette