Revision: Start of the French Revolution

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Start of the French Revolution

All the people in France belonged to one of the three Estates. Which people belong to the Estates?

The Three Estates

(de 3 standen)

All the people in the country belonged 

to one of the 3 estates.

An estate is a group of people 

you belong to from birth.

An estate is hereditary.

You can not easily 

change into 

another

etstate

1st estate: clergy

2nd estate: nobles

The Third Estate

The Third Estate representatives in the Estates General was made up mainly of professional people such as doctors, lawyers, bankers and rich merchants. Many third estate people were just as rich as nobles.

These rich people in the third estate are called: bourgeoisie

Most 3rd Estate representatives in the Estates General were bourgeois people. 

Farmers and poorly paid city workers did not have time or money to come to Versailles to join the Estates General meeting that lasted several weeks.

So, despite the fact that bourgois people were just as rich as many nobles, they lacked the same rights as nobles. 

3rd estate: peasants

3rd estate: city workers

3rd estate: bourgeoisie

The third estate had many grievances. But not all third estate groups had the same grievances. Choose which groups were most affected by the following problems:
(you can pick 1 or 2 answers at each question)

1. not enough land

1. peasants
2. city workers
3. bourgeoisie
4. all three groups

2. no influence in politics

1. peasants
2. city workers
3. bourgeoisie
4. all three groups

3. low wages

1. peasants
2. city workers
3. bourgeoisie
4. all three groups

4. bad harvests

1. peasants
2. city workers
3. bourgeoisie
4. all three groups

5. high taxes

1. peasants
2. city workers
3. bourgeoisie
4. all three groups

6. very difficult to get a noble title

1. peasants
2. city workers
3. bourgeoisie
4. all three groups

Source A: A cartoon about the Three Estates, published in the 1780s.

Which estates do the people in the source represent?

1. A : clergy B: nobility C: commons
2. A: commons B: clergy C: nobility
3. A: nobility B: commons C: clergy
4. A: nobility B: clergy C: commons

What do you think the stone on top of the figure lying on the ground is supposed to mean?

1. The stone symbolizes the anger of the third estate
2. The stone symbolizes the anger of the first and second estate
3. The stone symbolizes the taxes the third estate had to pay
4. The stone symbolizes the taxes the first and second estate payed

"Opening of the Estates-General in Versailles 5 May 1789."

Engraving by Isidore-Stanislaus Helman (1743–1806)

Why did king Louis XVI call the meeting of the Estates-General?

Which of the following best describes the term "constitution"?

1. a document that tells what rights the people have and what powers the government has (and hasn't)
2. a law in which the power of the king is limited and is no longer absolute
3. a law that abandons the division of people into three estates
4. another word for Trias Politica: the division of powers into the legislative, executive and judicial power

Which of the following best describes the meaning of the term "National Assembly"?

1. a meeting of representatives from the three estates
2. a meeting of people who represent the French people
3. a meeting of people who only represent the second estate
4. an assembly of French nationalists

When did the French Revolution start?