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One important result of the French Revolution was that

NAME: ____________________________ PERIOD: ___ DATE: ____________

MRS. BRANFORD GLOBAL HISTORY 10

~ THE ESTATES GENERAL ~

Louis XVI Calls a meeting of the Estates General

Estates-General of 1789

In the late 1700s in France, the king needed approval from a group of noble judges called the Parlement of Paris to pass new taxes. In an attempt to solve the country's debt problems and larger financial crisis, Louis XVI proposed to tax the First and Second Estates for the first time. The Parlement was not in favor of the tax because its members were from the First and Second Estates.

Since the King and Parliament could not come to an agreement, they decided to convene the Estates General, an old

The opening of the Estates General May 5, 1789 in the Salle des Menus Plaisirs in Versailles.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Estatesgeneral.jpg

institution that had not been assembled since 1614, 175 years beforehand, to settle the issue.

The Estates General was an assembly of representatives from each of the three estates from areas all over France. When the Estates General met on May 5, 1789, one quarter of the representatives were from the First Estate, one quarter were from the Second Estate, and half were from the Third Estates, but each estate received only one vote. So, even though the Third Estate had half of the delegates, they were always outvoted by the First and Second Estates, 2 to 1.

Source: Adapted from “French Revolution.” New World Encyclopedia. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/French_Revolution#Estates-General_of_1789

1. What did King Louis XVI propose to solve the country’s debt problem?

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2. Why did the Parlement reject Louis XVI’s idea?

__________________________________________________________________________

3. What was the Estates General? Who was a part of it?

__________________________________________________________________________

4. How did the Estates General not represent the people fairly?

__________________________________________________________________________

5. If you were a delegate at the Estates General from the Third Estate, what would you think of the voting
system? Why?

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Complaints of the Third Estate

The Cahiers de Doléances, better known simply as Cahiers, were lists of grievances (a complaint) written by the three Estates in France in 1789 for the meeting of the Estates General. King Louis XVI asked each of the Estates to compile cahiers. Below are excerpts from the cahiers (lists of grievances) brought to the Estates General from the district of Carcassonne.

. . . That the king be forced to reform the abuses and tyranny of letter de cachet (sealed letters which were really

blank warrants for arrest).

. . . That every tax . . . be granted [by the Estates General] only for a limited time.

. . . That the taille [a tax on land] be borne equally by all classes. . . .

. . . The meeting of the Estates General . . . shall be scheduled for definite times. . . .

. . . In order to assure the third estate the influence it deserves because of its numbers . . . its votes in the

assembly should be taken and counted by head. . . .

. . . Freedom should be granted also to the press. . . .

Partially from Source: Copyright © Hanover Historical Texts Collection. Used by permission of Hanover College, Hanover, IN from the NYS Social Studies ToolKit. http://www.c3teachers.org/inquiries/frenchrev/

6. What are the Cahiers de Doléances? Who were they written by? Why were they written?

__________________________________________________________________________

7. In one of the grievances, the authors write that “its votes in the assembly should be taken and counted

by head.” What do you think “by head” means in this context? Why would this be an important

change for the members of the Third Estate?

__________________________________________________________________________

8. Paraphrase (summarize) each of the grievances listed in the document, then explain why members of

the Third Estate would include that grievance in the cahiers.

Paraphrase of Grievance	Why Third Estate would make this request?

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