Notes+P21-25+amypx2013+9.3.2010

= Revolution in France (3) =


 * = 1. ||=  ||=   ||
 * = 1. ||=  ||=   ||


 * = ||= Things that people disliked ||= People who disliked these things ||
 * = Society (source 6) ||= There was a huge imbalance in the population for each estate. ||= The Third Estate, or everyone who wasn’t a noble or a clergy ||
 * = Taxation (source 12) ||= People from the first and second estate were exempt from some of the taxes ||= The third estate ||
 * = Feudal Rights and Dues (source 13) ||= The rights and dues were extremely unfair to farmers ||= Peasants who work for landowners ||
 * = Law (source 16) ||= There were many cruel methods of execution ||= Thinkers and philosophers ||
 * = Government (sources 20, 26, 31) ||= The king and the queen could use their power whichever way they like (the hamlet, sealed letters) ||= Almost everyone else ||

2. The things listed above all became reasons for people to want to change the way the French government was run. I think the major reason would be the absolute monarchy of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette- people disliked the way the king and the queen could do whatever they liked while everyone else had to suffer in the society. 3. E-B-I-G-A-C-D-H-F 4. Political: People thought that the king and his ministers had too much power Social: People disliked Marie Antoinette's extravagant spending; people disliked the fact that Maire Antoinette was Austrian Economic: Many poor people blamed the government for high prices and unemployment; people disliked government's new land tax 5. I think the most important reason would be that people blamed the government for high prices and unemployment. Because of a lot of bad weather that caused hunger everywhere, many poor people suffered greatly; most of them even lost their jobs. 6.I think his government would still be unpopular because he himself has used his authority in many ways that made peasants suffer.

Voting System
 * People wanted to use this system to block the king's plan of taxing them
 * The Estate General consisted of 750 people, 250 from each estate
 * They had to discuss in separate rooms and each estate had one vote
 * the third estate thought it was unfair
 * the clergy and nobles could easily out-vote the third estate
 * the third estate wanted two votes
 * In 1788, the king agreed to these demands
 * a new financial minister, Jacques Necker, hope that the Estate General could vote on taxes so he advised the king to double the votes for the third estate

Food Crisis
 * mass hunger
 * horrible weather- storms destroyed cornfields, vegetable plots, orchards and vineyards all over France
 * It was followed by drought- little harvest in 1788
 * Then there was the coldest winter- rivers frozen, roads blocked, windmills stopped and people weren't able to deliver food
 * floods ran over farmland
 * resulted in rise in the price of bread
 * people stopped buying things like clothes, shoes, candles, fuel...thus companies that sell these things lost business
 * result- unemployment

Complaint Lists § over 60,000 complaint lists were drawn up for the Estates General to discuss with the king § people had great expectations and excitement



The Estates Meet § first meeting took place on May 5th, 1789 § deputies met in the large hall of Versailles § the king ordered the three estates to split up and meet in separate halls o the third estate was unhappy with this order o they could be out-voted by the nobles and the clergy o they refused to carry on the meeting unless the nobles and the clergy could join them in a single “National Assembly” o the three estates argued over this matter weeks, until the third estate claimed that at the end of the week, if the nobles and clergy did not join them, they would start the work of the Estates General by themselves o this angered the king- he ordered a Royal Session of the Estates General o However, he was losing control over events in Versailles – on 19 June, the clergy joined the third estate § However, when the third estate deputies arrived at the palace to welcome the clergy, the hall was blocked by soldiers § The deputies feared that the king would break their assembly up by force § They took shelter in a tennis court near by and took and oath to carry on the meeting until they have changed the way France was governed § This was known as the tennis court oath o When the king held the Royal Session on 23 June, the Estates General refused to move and meet in their own separate estates o The king gave in on 27 June and ordered the clergy and nobles to join the third esate in a single assembly § The National Assembly became France’s legal parliament

My Summary: As France continued to face hardships such as financial and weather problems, people called for Estates General meetings. However, there were a number of disputes in the meetings – the major one regarding holding assemblies in separate halls. The Third Estate therefore called for a single “National Assembly” which deeply angered the king, yet their determination still resulted in a united National Assembly, which became France’s legal parliament. People believed that this was the revolution that has finally come to an end, yet they did not expect that the revolution has actually just begun.

Questions: 1. Why did the king give each estate only one vote? 2. Why did he want to hold assemblies in separate halls?