1. BELLWORK In 3-5 sentences, explain the Brazilian Revolution.
How are the revolutions in Latin America different than the U.S. Revolution?
What is an absolute monarch?
Who was Louis XIV? List three ways he abused his power (pg. 267)
THINKER: The French Revolution starts when peasants stand up and revolt. What are some positive and negative effects of standing up against your government?

2. Causes of the French Revolution
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3. Long-Term Factors:
The Enlightenment: Encouraged freedom and social justice
The American Revolution: An example of liberty and freedom
Social Problems: The Estates System
Political Conflict: Unfair absolute monarchy
Economic Weakness: Expensive wars, Lavish spending by kings

4. Vocabulary In your notes, define the following words: Estate Tithe
Bourgeoisie
Coup d'état

5. French Society: The Old Order
Before 1789, France’s class system was made of ESTATES (orders of society) and all French people belonged to 1 of 3 estates
The estates determined a person’s legal rights and status

6. The First Estate Made up of clergy About 1% of the population
Controlled 5 – 10% of land in France
Enjoyed many privileges
Did not have to pay taxes

7. The Second Estate Made up of the nobility About 2% of the population
Owned 25% of land in France
Held high positions in the government and military
Owned large estates and paid no taxes
Incomes came mostly from peasants living and working on their land

8. The Third Estate
Made up of Middle Class (bourgeoisie), peasants, and artisans
About 97% of population
Middle Class (doctors, lawyers, merchants) were educated and wealthy, but had no prestige or privileges
Looked to Enlightenment philosophers that spoke about freedom and social justice
Peasants owned 40% of land in France, but were forced to pay over half of their income to king, clergy and nobles
Members of this estate had no voice in government

9. Call For Change:
In 1774, King Louis XVI and wife Marie Antoinette came to power
The king was faced with severe debt and wanted to tax the First and Second Estates
The two estates refused to pay the taxes
The king was forced to call the Estates-General in 1789

10. The Estates-General
The Estates-General was made up of delegates from each estate and each estate was given I vote
With this type of voting, the clergy and nobility would vote together and always overrule the Third Estate
The Third Estate felt the vote should be based on the number of people in the estate, thus giving them the majority vote

11. The Tennis Court Oath
Fearing a revolt, the king locked the Third Estate out of their meeting place in the Estates-General
The Third Estate then declared themselves the National Assembly and began meeting in an indoor tennis court
Here, they took an oath called the Tennis Court Oath—refusing to disband until they had a written constitution for France

12. The Storming of the Bastille
The Bastille (a Paris prison) symbolized injustices of the monarchy
July 14, 1789 a mob surrounded the Bastille in an attempt to steal weapons needed to defend the National Assembly
The soldiers killed 98 rioters and the rioters released 7 prisoners

13. The Storming of the Bastille
This outbreak led to the formation of a Revolutionary Government in Paris
The Storming of the Bastille led to a wave of violence in France
This event is considered the beginning of the French Revolution

14. STOP HERE!!!

15. CLOSURE Describe the Estate System in France.
Why did Louis XVI call the Estates-General? How did the third estate feel about this?
What was the Tennis Court Oath?
Why did a mob storm the Bastille? What was the outcome?

16. Discussion Why did people dislike Louis XVI?
Why did people dislike Marie Antoinette?

17. BELLWORK – pd. 2
Why did the Third Estate dislike the French government?
What was the Estates-General? How did they make decisions?
How did Louis XVI propose to get France out of debt? Was it successful?
Why did Louis XVI lock the Third Estate out of the Estates-General?
How did the Third Estate respond to being locked out of the Estates-General?
THINKER: If the First and Second Estate were so wealthy, why couldn’t they just pay taxes too? Why was it such a big problem to tax the First and Second Estates?

18. Marie Antoinette Born in 1755 to the Emperor and Empress of Austria.
After the Seven Years’ War, France needed to cement their alliance with Austria, so Louis decided to take an Austrian wife.
When Marie Antoinette was 12, her entire family contracted small pox.
The disease killed her brother and two sisters – who was going to marry Louis?
Two years later, Louis paid 200,000 crowns ($11,000) for Marie’s hand in marriage.
Immediately, French citizens did not support the marriage because there remained high tensions between Austria and France.

20. Marie at age 13; this portrait was sent to Louis to see if he approved

21. Marie Antoinette
Marie and Louis had four children together: Marie-Therese Charlotte and Dauphin Louis Joseph.
After Louis’ birth, fighting between Austria and France broke out

22. This controversial portrait was considered “improper” for a queen

23. Marie Antoinette’s declining popularity
Louis refused to allow his wife to participate in politics
Austrian family was disappointed
First son (Louis) was very ill, but Marie had a second son
France was in a huge economic downturn; could not finance war
French citizens felt she sided with Austria
Parliament was dissolved
Spent a lot of money on diamonds, clothing, palaces, and art.
Famous for the saying “Let them eat cake!”

25. Marie Antoinette
During the French Revolution, Louis and Marie were blamed for the majority of the country’s problems.
A mob broke into their palace
Marie became a widow in January 1793 when her husband was executed
By this time, Marie’s health was deteriorating – she had tuberculosis and cancer.
Marie was tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal and found guilty of treason.
She was executed in October 1793, at the age of 37.

27. Homework
Two of the main causes of the French Revolution were the estates system, and lavish spending by the monarchy.
To review over these causes, you are going to complete a worksheet.
One side focuses on the characteristics of the estate system
The other side is a profile of Marie Antoinette