Download The Estates General

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In your journal: What problems in French society did our
Estates General simulation expose? What difficulties in
solving the problems were apparent? Explain.
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Announcements:
 This week I will be checking notebooks for the government unit.
Make sure you have handouts and class work in your notebook.
 Essay prompts are on the next slide. We will begin the writing
process on Friday or Monday. If you have met the persuasive
essay requirement and would like to attempt a cause/effect
essay, please see Mr. Austin.
 Bring Textbooks every day until winter break.
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Homework: Estates General Simulation Worksheet
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You are a French middle class citizen who supported and lived through
the revolution. During that time you have been regularly
corresponding with an American citizen who participated in the
American Revolution. Napoleon has just been crowned emperor
officially ending the revolution. Was the French Revolution worth it?
Take a side and write to your American friend.
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Evaluate this statement and write a persuasive paper in support of the
statement or against it. “The French people were justified in
overthrowing their monarch and forming a new government due to the
unfair social systems in place, the lack of representation in government
and the excesses of the monarch’s government system.”
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Evaluate this statement and write a persuasive paper in support of the
statement or against it. “Napoleon’s rise to power in France was a
positive thing for the French people because it gave the country a
strong ruler that championed reform.”
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The Revolution Begins
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Phase 1 – The Moderate Phase (1789-1791)
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Phase 2 – The Radical Phase (1792-1794)
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Phase 3 – The End: The Directorate and
Napoleon (1795-1815)
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Imagine the following:
• You are a middle class shopkeeper who was selected to
be a delegate at the meeting of the Estates General
• You came to Versailles expecting to be able to make some
meaningful changes in the French political and economic
systems
• You and your fellow delegates from the Third Estate want
all three estates to meet together and make decisions
with each delegate having an equal vote. Since there
were more Third Estate delegates, you will finally get a
major say on laws and reforms>
• Instead, the nobility and the clergy insisted that the votes
be held by order so that they could outvote the Third
Estate despite having far less actual votes
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What would you suggest for you and your
fellow middle class delegates to do at this
point?
What do you think they did?
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The French Revolution: Part 01: April 1789September 1791: Causes and Onset of the
Rebellion
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Read about the three events that started the
revolution (pp.654-655) and answer the
questions below for each section of the text
you read:
 The National Assembly
▪ What action did the delegates to the Estates General
from the Third Estate take after the King ruled that
votes would be taken “by Order”?
▪ What did they pledge to do?
▪ Who joined them?
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The Storming of the Bastille
 What rumors led to the storming of the Bastille?
 What happened?
 What is the significance of the event?
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The Great Fear
 What rumors fueled the “senseless panic”?
 What action did French peasants take?
 What action did Parisian women take and what
were the results of their acts?
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Read pp. 656-657 stopping at the subsection
“Factions Split France”. Answer the following
question:
 What actions did the National Assembly take to
reform France, its social structure, its relation with
the Church and its political structure during this
time period.
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Then read over the handout, “Declaration of
the Rights of Man” and think about how this
document addressed the factors that led to
the French Revolution.
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Compare your response to the reading
question. Make sure each group member
has a complete answer.
Then as a group review the handout.
Discuss, develop and write down an answer
to the following question:
 How did the Declaration address the causes of
the French Revolution that we discussed earlier in
class?
The new government established by the
National Assembly still faced some of the
problems that had caused the revolution such as
food shortages and government debt.
 The question of how to handled these problems
caused the newly created Legislative Assembly
to split into three groups each of whom
proposed different solutions:
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 A Radical Group
 A Moderate Group
 A Conservative Group
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Question (answer to the best of your ability:
 What ideas concerning how the new government
should be run do you think each group proposed?
 The Radicals?
 The Moderates?
 The Conservatives?
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Answer:
 The Radicals (the left) wanted sweeping changes such
as getting rid of the king
 The Moderates (the center) wanted to make a few
minor changes
 The Conservatives (the right) were happy with the
idea of a limited monarchy and wanted to make no
changes
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Question: What sort of situation or events might
cause the Radical point of view to gain support
in the country and the government?

If you were a monarch or a noble in a European
country in the 1790’s how would you view the
French Revolution, its limitation of the power of
the king and its focus on citizen equality? What
might you be inclined to do?

If you were Louis XVI, having lost your traditional
power, what might you hope that your other
European monarchs might do for you?

Austria and Prussia attacked France with the
goal of restoring Louis XVI to full power. It
appeared that their actions were being
encouraged by King Louis.

What effect do you think this might have had
on the power struggle between the Radicals,
Moderates and Conservatives in the French
national Legislature?
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The war with Prussia and Austria
strengthened the Radicals and allowed them
to take control.
An eventual leader of the radicals was
Maximilien Robespierre. A quote from his
writing is printed on p. 660 of your text.
Read it and answer the following question:
 What might you expect will happen in France
when Robespierre takes over the French
government?
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We are going to watch a film which will detail
the events of the Radical Phase of the
Revolution.
The film will also touch on the beginning of
the third phase of the Revolution.
As you watch the film you need to answer the
questions that appear on the next slide for
each factor (they are also written on a
handout)
The Legislative Assembly Takes Charge: October 1, 1791
1. What 3 problems did the Legislative Assembly face?
Birth of the First Republic and the Execution of the King, April, 1792-January, 1793
2. Whom did the revolutionaries blame for the Prussian invasion?
3. What did the revolutionaries do to those accused of being “enemies of the
Revolution”?
4. What was the “National Convention” and what action did it take?
5. Why was the King executed?
6. What effect did the execution of the king have?
The Terror
7. What was done in the spring of 1793 to stop those opposed to the government?
8. What organization began ruling France in the summer of 1793 and who headed it?
9. Against whom was the Reign of Terror organized?
10. What percentage of people tried by revolutionary tribunals during the Reign of
Terror were found guilty and sentenced to death?
The Directory and the Rise of Napoleon: October 1795 – November 1799
11. What replaced the Committee for Public Safety as the government of France?
12. How did the revolution end?
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http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.c
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Read “Napoleon Rules France” on pp. 654-665 of
your text and answer the following questions:
What was Napoleon’s first act as leader and what
was the result?
What economic actions did he take?
What political actions did he take?
What educational actions did he take?
What religious actions did he take?
What legal actions did he take
What political office did he take for himself in 1804?
Compare your answers to the 7 questions about Napoleon’s rule.
Make sure all group member’s answers are accurate and complete.
 Then individually read the handout on Napoleon’s letters.
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Finally as a group discuss and develop and have each group
member write down an answer to the following question:
 In what ways did Napoleon’ s actions advance the ideas
and goals of the French Revolution and in what ways
did they reverse or counter them?
(Looking at your handout Declaration of the Rights of Man” and your
notes on the factors that led to the Revolution will help you do this
task)