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     In the late 1780's neighboring troops are ready to pounce on 

France. Ready to take advantage of its financially broke, 

weakened and chaotic state. Inside the borders of France, hungry 

out of work peasants and middle class citizens can no longer 

afford the high cost of food and the added suffering of low wages.  

Corrupt wealthy nobles, government officials, and greedy 

landowners causes growing hatred towards social inequality, rich 

privileges, and the out-of-touch monarchy. Unwillingness to 

continue supporting a country with out of control finances, 

government, and snooty upper French society, the poor and lower 

middle class are ready to take drastic actions against their king 

and the wealthy elites of France. 

     It was time to stand against those who would not recognize the 

lower classes as contributing individual citizens of society. Citizens 

desperately felt they had God given individual rights, talents, and  

abilities. They wanted the right to own their land, and a 

government that would stop over-taxing them. They wanted 

freedom to share opinions in their communities whether it was 

around a fire at night, the community newspaper, or the Les 

Halley’s market in Paris without penalty. Peasants and the middle 

class citizens are prepared to revolt for what they knew would 

make a better, stronger, more enlightened country. These citizens 

were ready to sacrifice their lives for change.

 VOCABULARY: financial crisis, vote by order, 

Third Estate, 

     Financial crisis in government was a major cause of the 

revolution and one of the first steps towards Democracy. 

Foreign banks refused to loan the Kings government any more 

money. Without any money coming from the banks, the only 

thing the King could do was place more taxes on his already 

suffering French citizens. These financial crises forced him to 

call a special committee together called the Estates General for a 

decision and vote on new taxes. Three groups of people made up 

the societies of France. These three estates were first the nobles, 

second, the clergy, and third, the common people called the 

Third Estate. Each of these societies or estates had a 

representative that went to the meeting and each of these 

representatives had one vote called a vote by order.

VOCABULARY: Pledge, National Assembly,

 Constitution of 1791

     The meeting of the Estates-General ran into problems from 

the very start of the meeting. There had not been a meeting in 

over one hundred years and French society had grown and 

changed since the last meeting in 1614. The first problems were 

about old voting rules. The First Estate Clergy and Second Estate 

Nobility had never been required to pay much of their own money 

for taxes and the Third Estate made up of the common working 

people was now carrying the burden of paying 100% of all the 

taxes! With each Estate having an old rule of one-vote each to 

decide on raising taxes, the First and Second Estates together 

could out-vote the Third Estate two to one. NOT FAIR when both 

of these Estates never had to pay any taxes!

     The Third Estate rebelled by moving their members to a 

nearby indoor tennis court. Here they formed a group 

representing the people called The National Assembly. This 

was another step towards Democracy but also led to a growing 

hatred toward the rich landowners and royal authorities with its 

fees and obligations. Anyone who wanted to join was welcomed 

to this new assembly and the group soon grew big enough to 

dominate what was left of the three General-Estates. The 

furious King, the priests and nobles did not acknowledge the 

new assembly. The National Assembly promises an oath that 

pledged they would continue to meet together until they 

produced the new French Constitution of 1791 promising 

the common people a fairer form of government that would 

represent everyone equally.

VOCABULARY: July 14, 1789, prison, gunpowder, revolution

     On the afternoon of July 14, 1789, a group of eight 

thousand men and women who were joined by members of the 

French Guard bombarded the royal armory and prison called 

the Bastille. To the common people of Paris this was a symbol of 

the government’s harsh policy towards them. It was also a place 

they could get weapons, and the gunpowder needed to protect 

themselves from the Kings army. The defenders of the Bastille 

could not hold it and surrendered. With so many of the citizens 

involved in this action against the King and the Bastille, it was 

considered a revolution not a revolt. This began The French 

Revolution and France’s political attempts for a Democracy 

represented by a majority of the people for individual rights, 

representative institutions, and loyalty to the nation rather than 

the monarchy.

VOCABULARY:  women, bread, palace, promise

      King Louis XVI still refused to accept the new National 

Assembly’s rules and the Declaration of Rights that reduced the 

monarchies power over the common people. Thousands of 

Parisian women got very angry. Their children were starving 

from not having enough food and bread to eat. Encouraged by 

revolutionary supporters in the market, these women gathered 

and broke into the city armory stealing pistols, muskets, and 

gunpowder. On October 5, 1789, carrying their weapons, 

pitchforks, and broom handles they marched to the Palace of 

Versailles, broke in, and demanded the king’s promise to 

accept the National Assembly decrees and its Declaration of 

Rights.

     These brave women told the king about their children 

starving because of the high cost of food and wheat and not 

having enough bread to eat. The next day the women convinced 

the king and his family to return to Paris. As a gift to the people, 

the king filled his wagons with loads of flour not knowing this 

would be the last time he and his family would ever see their 

palace and home again. This march ended the absolute rule of 

the king and was a symbol of a new balance of power. It was the 

largest democratic assembly of revolutionaries representing the 

common people of France.

Vocabulary: Robespierre, guillotine, treason, republic

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