Some facts about the third estate people
- Peasants were forced to do Milatary services.
- Peasants couldn't hunt or fish on nobles estate.
- Peasants had to pay tax to the lord, the king and the church.
- Peasants were 90% of the French population.
Some facts about The First and Second Estate people
- Nobles have almost complete autherity over the peasants.
- Nobles didn't have to do milatary service.
- The first and second Estate people didn't have to pay tax.
- Nobles collected tolls from people using the roads and the markets.
- Nobles and clergy lived in great luxory in chateaux and Palaces.
Sources suggest that the taxes are crushing the peasants because they have to pay taxes to three people in the estates and they have to work even harder to pay the taxes to three people. Another source suggests that people are born free and that no human is autherity over each other. He also said that the power to make laws were in peoples hand and this was a pamplet, banned by the french goverment in 1775 by Jean Jacques Rousseau.
Yearly Livres compared
Archbishop of Paris 50,000 Livres
Marquis de Mainvillette 20,000 Livres
Prince de Conti 14,000 Livres
A Paris Parish Priest 10,000 Livres
A typical villiage priest 750 Livres
A Master Carpenter 200 Livres
(In the 1780 4 Livres =£1)
In France the estates were a big problem but in end of the 1700s france experienced more problems with money, bad harvest, and national assemblie.
The first Cause was about the econmics, by 1787 the french goverment were bankrupt. They were 4000 million livres in debt. They were in this debt because france spent a lot of money on costly wars but had nothing to show it. Most people blamed the king and queen but mostly Queen Marie because she spent to much on luxuries things rather than the country and was interferring how the country was to be run and there were rumours that she had lots of lovers.. Other people said the tax system was corrupt and they also said that some tax collects didn't give all the money to the goverment. In the same year King louis XVI asked the first and second estate people to help him reform the country, which ment louis wanted them to pay some tax but not suprising they said No.
Another Cause were the bad harvests, People in France in the 1700s depended mostly on their farming and agriculture. But in these three years 1787-1789 terrible weather, heavy rain ,cold winters and too hot summers killed the crops. This ment the peasants and farmers had smaller incomes and food prices rose very high that some peasants were that poor that they couldn't afford to buy food, or find a job. This ment some farmers were unemployed. At this time the royals and the clergy, nobility were still living in luxory.
Another problems was the 'National Assembly' to Louis because the thrid estate deputies were tired of arguing over how should everyone should vote. So the third estate called themselves the National Assembly and they represented 96% of the population and they felt that they were the true parliament and they wanted to show to govern france. On June 20th the members of the assemblies met at the royal tennis court and pledged an oath to the tennis court not to leave until the king agrees to there demands. The king gave away the first and second estate become part of the National Assembly.
Another problem was that bread was in short supply that the poor people started to rioted in paris to be fed. They felt that the king took to much tax of them so the king should provide them with bread in return. In july 14th the storm of Bastille. The feudalism was abolished.Then this document set free about freedom which the french people said they were entitled to was that men are born and remain free and equal in rights.The king was forced to agree in this although that he was no intentions to support it.
Then after that for the next few years tension dominated between various libiral assemblies. A rubublic was proclaimed in September in 1792 .King Louis XVI was excuted the next year.