INO-+French+Revolution+Notes+August+26+2010

= French Revolution Notes: Pg. 2-12 "France Before Revolution" = toc

Awesome Stuffs

 * Type || Name || Tax_ || Who || Exempt_ ||
 * Direct || Taille || Land or income || Everyone(except men in service) || Nobles, clergy ||
 * Direct || Capitation || Poll tax, each year to gov. || All || Nobody, clergy paid less ||
 * Direct || Twentieth || Twentieth of earning || All || "ditto" ||
 * Direct || Corvee || Labour tax || All able-bodied men || Nobles, clergy, teachers, shepherds etc ||
 * Indirect || Gabelle || Salt || Anyone buying || 4 exempt provinces ||
 * Indirect || Octroi || Tax paid at town gates for bringing goods in || Merchants || Nobody ||
 * Indirect || Aides || Drinks || Anyone buying wine etc || Some provinces ||
 * Indirect || Traites || Goods transported to one province to another || Merchants || Nobody ||

Intro

 * 1) Summer 1789, millions of French used violence to change how they lived
 * Destroyed centuries-old system of law and government
 * Society and economy

French People & Their Society

 * || Class || Job ||
 * Peasants || LowestClassofThese || Farmers ||
 * TownWorkers || LowClass || Shopkeepers,traders, craftsmen ||
 * Bourgeoisie || Middle Class || Shipowners etc ||
 * Nobles || High Class || Ruling class, landowners ||

The Three Estates
- didn't have to pay some taxes || - special treatment in law courts - didn't have to pay some taxes - didn't have to do military services ||
 * 1) According to French law, people did not actually belong in classes but in estates.
 * 3 estates: Clergy, nobility, and the last group was everyone else
 * < Estate ||< Population ||< _People_ ||< __Privileges____ ||
 * < Clergy ||< about 130,000 ||< Priests, bishops, nuns, monks ||< - own law courts
 * < Nobility ||< 120,000-350,000 ||< King, Queen, dukes, counts, knights ||< - can carry sword
 * < EveryoneElse ||< 27mil ||< peasants, lawyers, doctors, craftsmen, soldiers ||< none ||


 * Clergy ran the country's education and religious life so the king gave them and the nobles their own estates and privileges.
 * Many people thought the estates was outdated and unfair.

Poverty
2. In 1790 a government committee worked out that a family of 5 needed at least 435 livres a year, 202 for basic needs and 233 for food.
 * 1) The greatest inequality in France was people's wealth.
 * The nobles and bourgeoisies were very rich while others were poor
 * Some people had to rely on charity to survive

Unequal Taxation
2. An average family needed to pay 10-15% of its yearly earnings 3. There were many types of taxes, both direct and indirect. ( See graph above for more details ) 4. As well as paying feudal dues, people had to give the Church a tithe
 * 1) Although people were poor, they still paid taxes.
 * 2kinds: direct (to government) and indirect (whenever they bought something)
 * The clergy and nobles were exempted from main taxes
 * Most people who were exempt were the rich, so they had no difficulty paying taxes
 * In addition to paying taxes, peasants still had to pay money to their landlords
 * Many of the clergy were landlords or seigneurs.
 * They rented their land to peasants to farm
 * As tenants, they owed dues.
 * meaning, giving the church a tenth of their yearly income or produce
 * Some people had no difficulty paying dues or tithes by making money in the market
 * Those who couldn't pay had to give in part of their crops

Critics of French Society

 * Most people didn't question their way of life but some of the educated ones did
 * They were called philosophes, a group of writers, journalists and scientists shared a common idea called Reason

A Philosophe at Work
2. Other than science, he involved himself in social and political issues
 * 1) Lavoiser, a scientist
 * Proved the old theory of how things burn wrong (phlogiston, eg: burning wood. Phlogiston disappears and leave ashes)
 * During 1770-1780s, he discovered that things burn when combined with a gas, he named it oxygen
 * He helped farmers find a new way to farm
 * 1787, proposed a number of reforms to help the poor, such as abolishing taille

The Calas Affair
2. Story of the Calas Affair: 3. Voltaire decided to take up Calas' case because it showed up some major wrongs in the French society
 * 1) Most famous philosophe was the writer Voltaire
 * Questioned the power and beliefs of the French Church
 * He showed his views most clearly when he involved in a sad case of injustice, the Calas Affair
 * Jean Calas, a Protestant cloth merchant who lived in a Catholic city of Toulouse
 * In 1761, one of his sons hanged himself in his father's warehouse
 * When the Catholics gathered outside, they believed the rumor that Jean had murdered his son because he didn't want him to convert to a Catholic.
 * Jean was then murdered
 * Voltaire held a campaign for the next 3 years to clear the name of Calas
 * In 1765, the court found Calas innocent and pardoned him
 * Religious intolerance- the refusal of non-Catholics to follow their own religion
 * The other was the cruelty of the law which allowed Calas to be tortured to death

Changes in Public Opinion

 * 1) Because of Voltaire's writings, public opinion began to change
 * By the 1780s most educated people agreed on his ideas
 * More humane and torture-free system of law
 * Favored toleration of non-Catholics
 * They wanted to change the way France was governed

Summary
There were 3 main estates during France before revolution, clergy, nobility and everyone else. The society was unfair, especially people wealth. People were so poor that some needed to rely on charity to survive. There were 2 main types of taxes, direct and undirect. It was unfair because the high class people were exempt from some taxes and they had absolutely no difficulties to pay taxes. During that period of time, a few educated people questioned how France was ran, they were called philosophes. The 2 famous ones were Lavosier and Voltaire. Lavosier was a scientist but also involved in some social and political issues. He helped to improve the lives of peasants. Voltaire was one of the most famous philosophes. He proved his idea through the Calas Affair. Through his writings, the public's idea had changed, they wanted to change how France was ran.

Questions
1. Are there any famous philosophes? What did they do?