InNo-Revolution+in+France+Notes+1+marcol2013+August+26,+2010

Revolution in France Notes Pg. 2-12

This reading reminded me of the feudal system that we learned in history classes in the previous years. This picture also shows how the lower the table, the greater amount of people and poverty. bayeuxtapestry.org.uk

A Picture of Voltaire

academic.shu.edu

A cool video introducing bits of the French Revolution

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If the video does not work properly, follow this link to watch it: http://www.56.com/u39/v_MjQzOTUxMjQ.html

The following website has a pretty good timeline of some important events that occurred during the French Revolution. http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/History/en/ex_special_french.php

France before the Revolution -the French Revolution occurred during the summer of 1789 -millions of French people took part in a violent revolution -this was caused by the injustice and unfairness of the system of law -in the following decade, all of this would change

French people and their society -there are different social classes in France -there are peasants, town workers, bourgeois and noble families -the majority are peasants and town workers, while the rich and fewer ones are the bourgeois and noble

The three estates -in France, people were organized into three estates -clergy(church workers) and the noble had privileges over everyone else which is the third classes -the two higher classes also escape taxation while the poor pays for all taxes

Poverty -poverty was big in peasants because they paid all taxes -had to pay for basic needs like food, heat, clothing, etc. -had to pay the land-owners for rights

Unequal taxation -a family had to pay 10%-15% of their yearly income to the government -the higher classes like noble and clergy didn't have to pay this -other taxation like land, the clergy and noble didn't have to pay -peasants also had to pay landlords to have right over things like an oven, etc.

Critics of French Society -French people did not question the way they lived their lives, but soon, the educated group figured something wasn't right -these people were the philosophe, writers, scientists and jounalists -a philosophe was Lavoiser, who figured out how things burned -he also studied social and political problems like building better farming instruments

The Calas affair -Voltaire was the most famous of the philosphes -he realized in a case of injustice, where Jean Calas was innocent but found guilty because he was a protest -Voltaire used this case to prove injustice in French law -he could show that French law was against freedom of religion and allowed torturing people to their death

Changes in public opinion -the public soon changed their view as writings of philosphes like Voltaire were read by more educated people -once the people in France understood the inequality of their government, they started to protest

Summary Before the Revolution, there were four classes in the France. The government used the term, estates to organize them into 3 groups. Of these 3 groups, there are the clergy and nobility who are superior to everyone else who were the lower class. The French did not argue against how they lived until Voltaire came along and noticed the injustice of the way the French society was organized. This is how the French Revolution started.

Questions How did France start this kind of unfair government and how did it manage to survive for so many years without people fighting against it? Why would the rich ones be able to avoid taxes while the poor who cannot even afford to pay taxes most of the time have to pay all of them? Shouldn't it be the other way around? What is the reason for why the peasants have to pay the landlords a ridiculous amount of things such as using an oven to bake, etc.?