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The French Revolution was the most effecting time period of France. One month after the American Revolution ended the French Revolution began. This revolution was fought to stop the injustice of all rulers and kings. This revolution gave rights to all living creatures andale tiring disappear from France. This revolution encouraged other countries to do the same. The roots of the French Revolution can be traced back to the reign Louis XVI, an absolute monarch.
He established the basis of the French Revolution by giving less power to the nobles. The king took the nobles and clergy out of their lands and took away their roots of power. Another thing was that he allowed political and social positions to brought by wealthy commoners. This made the nobles even more mad atthe king. This was one of the main reasons that lead to the French Revolution (Banfield 25). During the French Revolution there were three social classes.
The American Ambassador at the time, Thomas Jefferson, described the three classes as Clergy, Nobles, and Commons. The Clergy were representatives of the church, who served as judges. Nobles were looked upon as and called militaristic. The commons were divided into the Bourgeoisie which were wealthy land owners and also it was divided tothe peasants. Even though the social classes were made years before the reign of Louis XVI, still he stood up and changed everything around.
Because of that action a lot of people got mad (Hibbert, 135). Even though France tried to form a new government which would serve the citizens, many Frenchmen felt that the government would still remain corrupted. The people also thought that the government was trying to make them look like fools and that is another reason the French Revolution was brought about (Hibbert, 156). Louis XVI said this speech when all the problems were going on. Thus, by our primordial origin, all men without exception are my equals. Liberty is one of the rights of man and government is established to conceive it.
The objects of all laws is to preserve for mankind, the rights which belong to him. These are four natural rights which the king obliged to conserve for each of his subjects. These come from God andrew older than all laws, political or civil, They are life, honor, liberty, and property (Peder, n. pag). Because of these views on government, Louis XVI made the Estates General, a ruling body which would represent the common people. This gave all the estates a say in government.
Thomas Jefferson liked the idea and supported Louis XVI on his idea of the Estates General. Louis XVI greeted the estates General warmly on May 5, 1789 (Garland, n. pag). But the increase of the taxes was to much forthe people to pay and because of that the king was still was being hammered by the people. Until the time of the Estates General. Nobles and Clergy did not have to pay taxes.
Which left the third class to pay the debt of the country. So Louis XVI came up with the idea that the first and second classes began to pay taxes, like the commoners. This made everyone realize that he was trying to make everyone equal in society (Furet, 89). After the changes occurred, the Nobles and Clergy had their lands taken away. Also, their positions in the government were taken away and given to peasants and this left the nobles angry. But the insult would not stop there.
Louis XVI wanted all estates to have equal representation; alot of nobles thought that Louis was standing up against tradition. Also, Louis thought that everyone, peasant to noble, should have the same right to vote for the representatives. So therefore, the same person wouldnt always be elected by the same people. A lot of the higher class thought that the tradition of Chain of Command was disappearing because the lower class was gaining power in the government. (Furet, 125) After the decision by Louis XVI the peasants were allowed to runner keeper of the seals, Barentien, who had the same amount of power aside prime minister.
But the upper classes never liked the idea and fought against it every chance they had. The reason of the disagreement was inthe commoners got power then the upper classes would have nothing on one to help them keep there wealth and comfort. Thomas Jefferson said, The Clergy will move heaven and earth to defeat the effects of these new laws (Peder, n. pag). Fortunately not all of the nobles shared the same opinions as the clergy because they had not a lot to lose. A look young nobles liked the idea of sharing the power, In the last month 48 nobles have become commoners (Sydenham, 58).
The reason of that was that they wanted to make clear that some clergies liked the idea. But still the 3 rd Estate thought it was not enough. They thought that instead of having three different estates they should be all made one estate. (Furet, 160) After all the discussion the 3 rd estate wanted their deputies and representatives to be a true political power. So they formed the National Assembly. The third estate declared itself the National Assembly on June 17, 1789.
After they were given governing power, they had to recognize that the assembly was already composed of deputies sent directly by atleast 96 % of the nation. When this Assembly was built, it broke a record having the most people formed together as a governing power. The members of the National Assembly took on an oath known as the tennis court oath. This document stated that in order to pass a law, everyone must sign for it to be considered a law. The first order of business for the National Assembly was to make a new constitution. Thomas Jeffersonliked the idea of an assembly and stated, If the king will do business with the third estate which constitutes the nation, it may be done without priests and nobles (Peder, n.
pag). But, as always, with power comes mistakes. Once the National Assembly of the 3 rd Estates began, they forgot about the little people like peasants. They cared more about anew government instead of helping the little people that got them there. The lower class started to suffer because of the high taxes. A lot of people didn t have enough money to buy food because they had no money left after they paid there taxes (Hibbert, 198).
By the time that it became apparent that the three estates were unable to make decisions for the good of the people. The commoners began to see the deputies as fools. So the government popularity disappeared among the people. There was a problem with maintaining food supplies. There was a big problem because a lot of people had nominee to buy food. There was a lot of distress and starvation.
All of the country was without food and there was a lot of panicking (Hibbert, 201). Louis XVI was blamed because he let everything happen, There were even rumors of a conspiracy that the king was making all of this happen on purpose. Louis XVI popularity was no more. When this happened Louis XVI got crazy and started to destroy the cites and making the taxes higher. He did not care when he destroyed 12 centuries of Architectural Wonders and it got to the point were France was in total mayhem (Hibbert, 203). France had no leaders or any kind of income to get what they needed.
The country was in alert and in a state of french. Everyone that lived in France was threatened by the unjust taxation. The taxes were real high and the only reason they paid it was because if they didn t they would of got there head cut off. Whoever did not pay the tax or said something bad about the king, got their head cut off. What would happens that they would lay you down in a wooden or sometime steel table anda big sharp blade would cut right threw your head and it happened soft that you would not feel a thing. It was fast and not painful at all (Britannica n.
pag). Thomas Jefferson observed all of what happened and said, The disposition of the people at this moment is so unfavorable to the court that I should not be surprised if the States General, by appearing to give much credit to the kings professions, should lose the consideration which they have hit her to been held by the nation (Peder, n. pag). But France was not the only people that felt this also did Spain because everybody was leaving France and going to Spain and the surrounding countries. Spain also got overpopulated and there was a lot of people living in the street and all over the place. At one point Spain tried to helpful that made no difference.
United States did not help because they started to built there country and did not have the strength or power togo and help them. This time period was called the Reign of Terror (Peder n. pag). On July 13, 1789 the people of Paris forced the prison of St. Lazare, where they got some weapons. The next day they took theInvalides, the Bastille, and they beheaded the governor.
Then also beheaded the Lt. governor of the latter and the Prevost de Merchants. This was the beginning of the carnage and destruction of the French Revolution. It had began (Furet, 198).
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Research essay sample on Lot Of People Louis Xvi
