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The Burden of Debt
Louis XIV had France deeply in debt from the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution. He started to tax the 3rd Estate because the 1st and 2nd Estate refused to pay taxes. Unfortunately, the majority of the 3rd Estate didn't have enough to pay taxes, so that was not a solution to the problem. This was one of the first steps towards the revolution because the 3rd Estate was getting upset because the people who actually had money didn't have to pay taxes. -
Call of the Estates General
Louis XVI called together the Estate General for the first time in many years. The king had each estate create a list of grievances to bring to the meeting. Each estate got one vote, and since the 1st and 2nd estates were usually on the same terms, they outvoted the 3rd estate. This means that the 3rd estate couldn't make any changed for themselves if they kept following the kings rules. Something had to change. -
The Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Men was a document of the basic human writes and political power. It stated that all men were born equal and remain equal before the law. It also granted freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. These writes did not include women so, they wrote their own document. It was called the Declaration of the rights of women and Citizenesses. -
Tennis Court Oath
After the Estates General, the Third Estate was trying to get the king to choose voted based on a head count, not by estate. After a while they weren't getting anything accomplished so they created the National Assembly. They invited people from the other Estates as well to help them write a constitution. A few days later, they found their meeting hall guarded so they went to a nearby indoor tennis court. They swore never to separate until they had a new constitution written. -
Storm of Bastille
800 Parisians gathered outside Bastille. They wanted weapons that they believed were stored there. The commander refused to open the gates and opened fire on the crowd. The mob finally broke through the defenses and they killed the commander and 5 of the guards, but found no weapons. This became the symbol of the French Revolution. -
The End of the Old Regime
The National Assembly thought they could outlaw reforms without violence. They had already gotten rid of the tax for the church and removed the privileges that the 1st and 2nd Estate had. They had finally gotten rid of feudalism in France. -
The Constitution of 1791
The Constitution of 1791 limited powers to the king and divided the government into 3 parts; legislative, judicial, and executive. They elected tax paying males into a group of people called the Legislative Assembly. Despite these reforms, the rich people had the most power. The king excepted the conditions, but had plans of his own to over throw this new government. The king tried to escape, but people recognized him and brought him back to Paris. -
The Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly became divided into 3 parts. The Radicals, the Moderates, and the Conservatives. The conservatives felt the revolution had gone far enough and thought a king was the right type of government. The radicals liked the idea of republic and having no king. They wanted much more drastic changes. The moderates didn't take a side. They sided with either group depending on the issue at hand.
