Tomorrow may be Monday, but at least its not the French Revolution

Hey Guys! Hope you had a good weekend. Here’s a bit of a review of what has been going on:

The class debate: At what point did Louis XVI lose control over France?

France helped the American colonies to win the Revolutionary War, but they were in a huge amount of debt. The French did not have an extremely stable economy from the beginning--they liked to spend a lot of money on Versailles, and their taxes were all placed on the Third Estate, most of whom were extremely poor from paying all those taxes.

To fix the money issue, Louis XVI decided to propose a tax on all property in order to increase revenue to the state-- the nobles and clergy who had never been expected to pay taxes weren’t too keen on this idea. The group pulled out their wild card and said that these tax changes needed the approval of the Estates General, a group of representatives from all three estates that had not met since 1614. (Hint: that was a long time ago) The king took the harsh blow to his absolutist ego and handled it by dismissing the notables that were challenging him and still trying to put his new tax plan into action. 

Louis, vainly trying to pass those taxes

This did not go over well--> the Parlement if Paris declared his actions “null and void” and protests popped up around the country. In July 1788 the Estates General was finally called back to order by the king. A political deadlock ensued between the Third Estate, clergy, and nobility. The Third Estate wanted to meet with the clergy and the nobility all at the same time, and the Third Estate (joined by a few priests) created the National Assembly and sore the Oath of the Tennis Court that demanded they write a new constitution before they disbanded.

The king took some action--> he made a speech that urged reforms and a joint session of all three estates, but also marched his army over to Versailles to dissolve the Estate General through force.

This episode undermined the king’s authority when the absolutist king not only called for a gathering of representatives, but then gave into their demands to have a joint session

"You won't hang, you'll only have to go back home." A quote to exemplify exactly how seriously the people reacted to the troops coming to Versailles. Can't you hear the panic??

Who drove the Revolution forward?

The bourgeoisie fought the political battle for better representation against the clergy and the nobility, while the actual poor population of Third Estate fought the physical battle in the French Revolution. When rumors of the king’s troops attacking the city began to circulate, the peasants rose up and marched to Bastille, took over the prison, and then Paris. After the attack on Bastille, the Great Fear swept through the countryside-- people were undoing the enclosure system, bringing back common lands, seizing forests, neglecting taxes, and rebelling against the rules of the oppressive rules of the rich.

Everyone freaking out in the chaotic countryside

The women of France also proved they were not to be messed with-- a group of women marched to Versailles and demanded the royals be moved to Paris and soon became a major part of the French Rebellion.

Girl power-- gettin us some bread and Marie Antoinette's head

Documents you should know:

• Civil Constitution of the Clergy:
• context of the state becoming stronger
• Divides the church by region and sets strict rules over what positions should be recognized
• bishops, priests and other clergy officials will be elected
• they will take an oath to take care of their diocese
• Set salaries and dwelling contracts will be set up between priests/bishops and the communities they are serving in
• they are also unable to leave for extended periods of time--> this is to prevent the clergy from neglecting their parishes
• This document put the church under the control of the French government
• Declaration of the Rights of man
• compare Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Declaration of Independence 
• “the contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man”
• Includes 17 articles outlining the rights of men--> includes innocent until proven guilty, right of speech, protection of property, and a limitation of the government on the peoples’ freedom

Hope this made sense/was helpful and I'll see you all tomorrow!

- Cory

me, realizing tomorrow is Monday