1. French Revolution
Semester 2 – Day 124

2. Bellwork
What determines social classes?

3. Background Many problems with the conditions of society
Society was based on inequality

4. Three Estates First Estate: clergy (130,000 people; owned 10% of land
Second Estate: nobility (350,000 people; owned 25 to 30% of land); held leading positions in government, military, law courts, and higher church offices; exempt from tax
Third Estate: commoners; divided by differences in occupation; peasants made up 75 to 80% of the population (owned 35 to 40% of land); bourgeoisie (middle class – 8% of the population); skilled craftspeople

5. Financial Crisis Collapse of government finances Bad harvests
Slowdown in manufacturing
Had to call Estates-General to raise taxes

6. Estates-General to National Assembly
In the Estates-General each estate had one vote.
Third Estate wanted each deputy to have a vote
Third Estate becomes National Assembly and wants a constitution
Tennis Court Oath: vow to make a constitution
Storming of the Bastille (an armory and prison in Paris)
Revolution breaks out

7. Destruction of the Old Regime
National Assembly voted to abolish rights of landlords and the financial privileges of nobles and clergy
Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen: basic liberties; reflected Enlightenment ideals; freedom and equal rights for all men
Olympe de Gouges: Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen

8. King Concedes King did not accept the things the National Assembly did
Parisian women marched on Versailles
Made king return to Paris and support National Assembly

9. Church Reforms National Assembly seized church lands for money
Church was secularized; officials were elected by the people and paid by the state

10. New Constitution and New Fears
Constitution of 1791: set up limited monarchy; still a king, but Legislative Assembly would make the laws
Many wanted more drastic change and opposed the new order. (radicals)

11. War with Austria Fear that revolution would spread to other countries
Austria and Prussia threaten to use force to restore monarchy
Legislative Assembly declares war on Austria

12. Rise of the Paris Commune
A radical group in Paris
Angry about defeats in war and economic issues
Attack the royal palace and the Legislative Assembly
Took king captive; forced Legislative Assembly to suspend monarchy and call for a National Convention
Members called sans-culottes

13. Assignment
List the causes of the French Revolution

14. American Revolution/French Revolution
Evaluate how the American Revolution differed from the French Revolution.
What was the long-term impact of each revolution on political developments around the world?
Why was the French Revolution so much more violent than the American Revolution?
This is to be handed in as a one-page paper.

15. DBQ
Read page 662
Answer the three questions in complete sentences.