Key Terms – The French Revolution

Estates General First Estate Second Estate Third Estate Louis XVI Tennis Court Oath National Assembly Bastille Day

Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen

Constitution of 1791 Jacobins Robespierre Reign of Terror Committee of Public

Safety The Directory

Estates General

Estates General → government body established in the 14th Century as a means by which the king can petition the people for money to fight wars and alleviate economic recessions

Was composed of three estates

The Estates

Estates General was broken into three parts.

First Estate → clergy, made up roughly .5% of the population

Second Estate → nobles, made up roughly 1.5% of the population

Third Estate → peasants, made up 98% of the population

Inequalities of the Estates

The first and second estates controlled the Estates General in France even though they made up the smallest portion of the population.

The first and second estates combined had 600 representatives while the third estate had 600 representatives on its own.

Each estate held one vote which made them “equal”.

The third estate was taxed the heaviest on the basis that they made up more of the population and hence would generate more revenue.

Louis XVI “Louis the Last” (1774-1792)

Louis XVI was faced with the economic problems that his predecessors had created.

Louis XIV launched costly wars in Europe and America while Louis XV helped the Americans start their revolution.

Louis sought to raise money by pleading to the estates.

The Tennis Court Oath

Upon the calling of the estates, it was clear that the third estate would have its taxes raised to help close the budget gap.

The Third Estate would ask for a meeting with Louis XVI to solve the inequalities of the estates.

Tennis Court Oath/National Assembly

Louis XVI would not appear for the meeting and the doors to the building would be locked.

The third estate would meet in a tennis court nearby and declare that they would withdraw from the Estates General, this would be known as the Tennis Court Oath.

The third estate would now refer to themselves as the National Assembly.

Storming of the Bastille

- With the creation of the National Assembly came great unrest in France.

- Louis XVI would threaten to arrest those who opposed him which infuriated the rioters further

- The rioters would storm a fortress known as the Bastille and steal numerous weapons.

- This day would be known as Bastille Day (July 14,1789)

Changes Made by the National Assembly

- The National Assembly would make two large changes to French government:

- Created a bill of rights known as the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen

- Created the Constitution of 1791 which established a limited monarchy

Jacobins

- Jacobins → radical French group that convinced the French that the king was working against them.

- After convincing the French of this plot, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were arrested and the First French Republic was created.

Robespierre and the Reign of Terror

- Maximilian Robespierre would become the leader of the Committee of Public Safety.

- Committee of Public Safety → group that maintained order in France

-Robespierre would kill any citizens that he believed were against the Revolution

- This would lead to the Reign of Terror → period of 11 months when 30,000 people were killed.