Download The French Revolution

The French Revolution
Causes
• Ideological
• Political
• Social
Ideological Causes
• Origins- Thoughts and works of
Enlightenment thinkers
• Locke
• Rousseau
• Montesquieu
• Diderot
• Voltaire
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• The Social Contract, 1762
• People in society entered
into a contract or
agreement
• People are the only source
of legitimate rule
• People are subject to the
‘General Will’
• What’s best for the whole
is best for the individual…
Baron de Montesquieu
• Spirit of the Laws, 1748
• Argued against absolutism
• Was in favor of separation of
powers
• Politically conservative
• 3 types of government:
– Republics: virtue
– Monarchies: honor
– Despotism: fear
Denis Diderot
• The Encyclopedia,
1772
• Promoted ideals of:
–
–
–
–
Toleration
Reason
Progress
Equality before the law
• The state was the
agency for progress
Francois-Marie Voltaire
• Candide, 1759
• Promoted: Free Speech,
Civil Rights and Toleration
• Hated the Church and
Aristorcracy
• Praised Louis XIV and
thought that Enlightened
Despots were best
Thomas Jefferson
• The Declaration of
Independence, 1776
• All ‘men’ are created
equal…
Ideological Causes
• The American Revolution
• French soldiers fought in the
war
• Ideas were inspiring to the
French
• Overthrowing a monarch,
establishing a Republic
• Treaty of Paris, 1783
Social Causes
• The Estate System
• The Ancien Regime
• Similar to Feudalism of the
Middle Ages
• Inequality between estates
and within estates
• Growing resentment
between classes
The 1st Estate
• The Clergy
• 1% of the population
• Issued taxes on the peasants
called a tithe
• These taxes often left the
local church
• Exempt from taxes from the
crown
The 2nd Estate
• The Nobility
• 2% of the population
• Issued taxes on the peasants and
charged rent, feudalism
• Noblese d’epee- Old money,
inherited
• Noblesse de Robe- New money,
bought offices
• Exempt from taxes from the
crown
The 3rd Estate
•
•
•
•
•
Everyone else 97%
Split into three groups:
The Bourgeoisie
The Peasants
The Urban Poor
The Bourgeoisie
• Often thought of as the middle class
• Most important political group of the 3rd
• By 1789 they were well-educated, rich and
large
• No real say in the government but
economically powerful
The Peasants
• Huge portion of the population
• Paid the most tax- dues to feudal lords, the
taille and the tithe
• Oppressive poverty and little power
The Urban Poor
•
•
•
•
Artisans, factory workers, journeymen
High literacy rates
Highly political
Easily frustrated with inequalities
The Political Causes
• Economic hardships
• Inability to reform
• Weakening of Absolutism
Economic Hardships
•
•
•
•
The cost of wars
The inequality of tax distribution
Dependence on Loans
Versailles and The Royal Court
Inability to Reform
• Louis XVI- not interested in Government
• Competing interests between estates
• Calling of the Estates General
Weakening of Absolutism
• Louis XVI- no longer had the authority of
his predecessors
• Growing distrust and resentment of King
and Queen
• Calling of the Estates General further
deteriorates the King’s power
Other Causes
• The Volcano of Laki erupts for 8 months in
1783
• Ergot poisining- Like the Salem Which
Trials.
• PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY