Changes

In its Old Regime prior to the revolution, France had three tiers or levels in its social system:  the First, Second and Third Estates.  The First Estate was only 1% of the population but it controlled 10% of the land.  This was the clergy and they paid no taxes.  To be fair, however, much of this land was church land made available to the public, and clergy do not pay any taxes today in the United States either.  The Second Estate was only about 2% of the population but they controlled 20% of the land.  This was the landed nobility, and they paid very little in taxes.  The Third Estate was everyone else:  the peasants, the merchants and the laborers, and they were badly overtaxed by the monarch, King Louis XVI.  Recall that taxes were a major cause of the American Revolution also.

In its Old Regime prior to the revolution, France had three tiers or levels in its social system:  the First, Second and Third Estates.  The First Estate was only 1% of the population but it controlled 10% of the land.  This was the clergy and they paid no taxes.  To be fair, however, much of this land was church land made available to the public, and clergy do not pay any taxes today in the United States either.  The Second Estate was only about 2% of the population but they controlled 20% of the land.  This was the landed nobility, and they paid very little in taxes.  The Third Estate was everyone else:  the peasants, the merchants and the laborers, and they were badly overtaxed by the monarch, King Louis XVI.  Recall that taxes were a major cause of the American Revolution also.

The leaders of the Third Estate were the middle class, also known as the bourgeoisie.  They did better than the peasants and worked as merchants or skilled artisans.  They were educated and trained in many of the ideas of the Enlightenment, most notably Jean Jacques Rousseau.  His work “The Social Contract” (1762) supported a direct democracy rather than the republican form of government adopted in America.  The “social contract” was a contract among free people to create government.  Rousseau disapproved of titles like nobility, and demanded complete equality between all people.

The leaders of the Third Estate were the middle class, also known as the bourgeoisie.  They did better than the peasants and worked as merchants or skilled artisans.  They were educated and trained in many of the ideas of the Enlightenment, most notably Jean Jacques Rousseau.  His work, ''The Social Contract'' (1762), supported a direct democracy rather than the republican form of government adopted in America.  The “social contract” was a contract among free people to create government.  Rousseau disapproved of titles like nobility, and demanded complete equality between all people.

France was near bankruptcy in 1789 due to King Louis XVI’s extravagance and high taxes, which discouraged work.  The Second Estate then made a big mistake in demanding a meeting of the Estates-General, which was a French Assembly that had not met in 175 years.  Each Estate had one vote in the Assembly, such that the First and Second Estates could always outvote the Third Estate.  That was acceptable in the early 1600s, but the Third Estate would not allow this in 1789 after learning the Enlightenment ideas.  They wanted a system of one vote per delegate, which would have given the Third Estate the same number of votes as the First and Second Estate combined.

France was near bankruptcy in 1789 due to King Louis XVI’s extravagance and high taxes, which discouraged work.  The Second Estate then made a big mistake in demanding a meeting of the Estates-General, which was a French Assembly that had not met in 175 years.  Each Estate had one vote in the Assembly, such that the First and Second Estates could always outvote the Third Estate.  That was acceptable in the early 1600s, but the Third Estate would not allow this in 1789 after learning the Enlightenment ideas.  They wanted a system of one vote per delegate, which would have given the Third Estate the same number of votes as the First and Second Estate combined.

Chaos and violence soon hit the streets.  On July 14, 1789 (“Bastille Day”), French peasants stormed the large Paris prison known as Bastille, freeing the inmates.  The Great Fear or panic resulted, as riots occurred and peasants proceeded to burn wealthy homes.  Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were forced from their home in Versailles by a riot of women over the high price of bread.  In a classic example of class warfare that can be seen even today, people accused the privileged Antoinette of responding unsympathetically to the lack of bread for the peasants by declaring, “Let them eat cake!”  But cake was a sensible substitute for bread in times of need, and it is doubtful Antoinette ever said that anyway.

Chaos and violence soon hit the streets.  On July 14, 1789 (“Bastille Day”), French peasants stormed the large Paris prison known as Bastille, freeing the inmates.  The Great Fear or panic resulted, as riots occurred and peasants proceeded to burn wealthy homes.  Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were forced from their home in Versailles by a riot of women over the high price of bread.  In a classic example of class warfare that can be seen even today, people accused the privileged Antoinette of responding unsympathetically to the lack of bread for the peasants by declaring, “Let them eat cake!”  But cake was a sensible substitute for bread in times of need, and it is doubtful Antoinette ever said that anyway.

By then the French Revolution was in full swing.  The National Assembly approved the “Declaration of the Rights of Man,” which combined ideas of the American Declaration of Independence with some Enlightenment concepts.  The result of this combination was a liberal document guaranteeing more to the people than a government could or should provide:<ref>http://www.hrcr.org/docs/frenchdec.html</ref>

By then the French Revolution was in full swing.  The National Assembly approved the “Declaration of the Rights of Man,” which combined ideas of the American Declaration of Independence with some Enlightenment concepts.  The result of this combination was a liberal document guaranteeing more to the people than a government could or should provide.

:Unlike the American declaration that “all men are created equal,” the French version declared that “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.”  Unlike the American declaration that all men have inalienable rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the French version declared that all men have natural rights of “liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression.”  Some of the French declarations seem silly, like this one:  “Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.”  What is the meaning of a freedom if it is arbitrarily limited by undefined “abuses of this freedom”?

:Unlike the American declaration that “all men are created equal,” the French version declared that “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.”<ref>http://www.hrcr.org/docs/frenchdec.html</ref> Unlike the American declaration that all men have inalienable rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the French version declared that all men have natural rights of “liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression.”  Some of the French declarations seem silly, like this one:  “Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.”  What is the meaning of a freedom if it is arbitrarily limited by undefined “abuses of this freedom”?

In 1791, a French journalist named Olympe de Gouges proposed a “Declaration of the Rights of Woman,” but the National Assembly rejected her proposal.  She, like many other leaders of that time, was eventually executed by guillotine.

In 1791, a French journalist named Olympe de Gouges proposed a “Declaration of the Rights of Woman,” but the National Assembly rejected her proposal.  She, like many other leaders of that time, was eventually executed by guillotine.

The French National Assembly established a constitutional monarchy and, in 1791, adopted a new constitution that created a Legislative Assembly.  Three factions quickly formed in the new Legislative Assembly, known as the radicals (liberals), moderates (centrists) and conservatives, similar to those political movements today in the United States.  The three factions sat in different sections of the large assembly hall, with the radicals (liberals) sitting on the left, the moderates sitting in the center, and the conservatives sitting on the right.  That gave rise to the left-center-right terminology that we still use today in the United States to describe these three political groups.

The French National Assembly established a constitutional monarchy and, in 1791, adopted a new constitution that created a Legislative Assembly.  Three factions quickly formed in the new Legislative Assembly, known as the radicals (liberals), moderates (centrists) and conservatives, similar to those political movements today in the United States.  The three factions sat in different sections of the large assembly hall, with the radicals (liberals) sitting on the left, the moderates sitting in the center, and the conservatives sitting on the right.  That gave rise to the left-center-right terminology that we still use today in the United States to describe these three political categories.

Meanwhile, Prussia and Austria were at war with one another, and Prussia offered to help the French King Louis XVI and his royal family.  In response, in August 1792, the French revolutionaries imprisoned the king and his family.

Meanwhile, Prussia and Austria were at war with one another, and Prussia offered to help the French King Louis XVI and his royal family.  In response, in August 1792, the French revolutionaries imprisoned the king and his family.

Though the impressionistic movement in painting dissolved by the mid-1880s, it changed the path of art forever in its rejection of traditional Western approaches to subject matter.  The artist Vincent van Gogh, for example, was greatly influenced by the impressionists.  There was a musical impressionism also, which emphasized mood and understatement and reflected its composers’ view that pure sound (like color) is an end to itself.

Though the impressionistic movement in painting dissolved by the mid-1880s, it changed the path of art forever in its rejection of traditional Western approaches to subject matter.  The artist Vincent van Gogh, for example, was greatly influenced by the impressionists.  There was a musical impressionism also, which emphasized mood and understatement and reflected its composers’ view that pure sound (like color) is an end to itself.

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