1. Revolution Threatens the French King CH. 23.1

3. First Estate

4. This was the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.

5. They made up less than 1% of the population, but owned 10% of the land and paid about 2% of their income to the state.

6. Second Estate

7. This was the nobles.

9. The other 97% of the population.

10. Owned little to no land.

11. They too were divided into three different groups.The bourgeoisie were usually merchants and artisans. They could be rich but had to pay taxes and didn’t get the privileges of the nobles. They were into the Enlightenment. The city workers were poor wage-earners. The peasants made up about 80% of the overall population and paid out nearly half their income in taxes.

13. you have about 3% of the population owning 30% of the land and paying almost nothing in taxes

14. The other 97% is largely poor, heavily taxed, and shut out of the political process.

15. This 3rd estate is being influenced by Enlightenment ideals of democracy, social contracts, and overthrow of monarchs.

18. During his bouts of depression, his queen, Marie Antoinette, took control.

19. Marie was very unpopular. She was Austrian, flaunted her wealth, and resisted French social etiquette to the point of shocking the elite.

23. Like most kings, Louis 16 was spending a lot on wars, including helping out those nice American revolutionaries.

24. Louis and Marie were also spending a lot on their own personal luxuries, which was bad enough in itself, but also looked bad to others. Marie actually had no real concept of the value of money.

25. Louis tried reforming the tax system, but the noble assemblies resisted him.

27. Each estate met separately and submitted one vote each on proposals.

28. The Estates-General was more show than substance.

29. Each Estate was given equal numbers of representatives

30. So, the 3rd estate, even though it had the most people, had the equal amount of say in the decisions.

32. Sieyes

34. The Assembly declared itself the power in France.

35. They got locked out of their chamber, barged into an indoor tennis court and took what has become known as the Tennis Court Oath.

36. The oath: We swear never to separate ourselves from the National Assembly, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the realm is drawn up and fixed upon solid foundations.

39. Eventually the Bastille is stormed.

40. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the ancien regime. It was also a weapons depot and the mob wanted the weapons and gun powder.