MONDAY:
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TUESDAY:
Explain the three different Estates that existed in France before the French Revolution. What % of the population did each estate make up, what kind of people were part of each estate, and what did taxation look like for each estate? You may find it helpful to simply make a table to organize this information.
The First Estate was made up of the clergy members of the Roman Catholic Church. It made up less than 1% of the French population even though the Church owned 15% of French lands. The clergy did not pay any taxes to the French government.
The Second Estate was the French nobility and made up less than 2% of the French population. These people enjoyed special privileges (could collect rent from peasants, eldest son would inherit all property), paid little if any taxes, and engaged in conspicuous consumption, or irresponsible spending on luxury items to the point of excess.
The Third Estate was made up of the bourgeoisie or middle class (doctors, lawyers, merchants, manufacturers) and the lower class (artisans, city workers, rural peasants). This group of people formed 97% of the French population and had NO POLITICAL SAY! They also paid heavy taxes to make up for the fact that the other two estates did not pay taxes.
WEDNESDAY:
None
THURSDAY:
Why did the middle class (bourgeoisie) in France become the leaders of the French Revolution? (Specifically, what kind of people were they, and what changes in the late-1700s led to their dissatisfaction with French life?)
In the late-1700s, the French middle class (doctors, lawyers, merchants, and manufacturers) experienced a period of prosperity. Some even amassed as much money as the French nobility. They began to look at their situation and question why they had to shoulder the burden of France's taxes while having no political say when the nobility did not pay taxes and made all of the laws. The only difference between the bourgeoisie and the nobility in France was what family you were born into.
FRIDAY:
None
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