The Pros And Cons Of Meeting Of The Estates General

Unfortunately for France and the cause of freedom, resistance from the Court and special interests proved too powerful, and Turgot was removed from office in 1776. "The dismissal of this great man," wrote Voltaire, "crushes me. . . . Since that fatal day, I have not followed anything . . . and am waiting patiently for someone to cut our throats.? Turgot's successors, following a mercantilist policy of government intervention, only made the French economy worse. In a desperate move to find money in the face of an uproar across the country and to re-establish harmony, Louis XVI agreed to convene the Estates-General for May 1789. Meanwhile, the king's new finance minister, Jacques Necker, a Swiss financial expert, delayed the effects of mercantilism by importing large amounts of grain. On May 5, the Estates-General convened at Versailles. By June 17, the Third Estate had proclaimed itself the National Assembly. Three days later, the delegates took the famous Tennis Court Oath, vowing not to disband until France had a new constitution. However, the real French Revolution began not

The revolution developed rapidly in the months May to October 1789, sparked by the King’s refusal to put forward a programme of reform in order to satisfy the Third Estate during the meeting of the Estates General on the 5th May 1789. Consequently, the Third Estate assembled in order to take the Tennis Court Oath agreeing not to disperse until France had a Constitution. Fearing his position was being threatened by the radical Third Estate, Louis contemplated using military force and ordered the stationing of 20000 troops round Paris in preparation to dissolve the National Assembly by force if necessary. On the 11th July 1789, Louis made the mistake of dismissing Jacques Necker, who was not only popular with the Third Estate but

The assembly proceeded to grapple with its primary task, the drafting of a constitution. In the constitutional preamble, known in history as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the delegates formulated the revolutionary ideals later summarized as Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. While the Constituent Assembly deliberated, the hungry population of Paris, a hotbed of discontent and of rumors of Royalist conspiracy clamored for food and agitated for action. On October 5-6 a large body of Parisians, mostly women, marched on Versailles and laid siege to the royal palace. Lafayette, on demand of the crowd, escorted Louis and his family to Paris. After this episode some conservative members of the Constituent Assembly, which followed the king to Paris, handed in their resignations. In Paris, both the court and the assembly became increasingly subject to pressures from its citizens. Radical sentiment became predominant in the

The men that drove these revolts were very determined to change their world. When Marquis de Lafayette, a French noble, went to America and fought as a volunteer in the American Revolution, he was inspired by their quest for liberty. He brought this inspiration home with him, and began the French pursuit for freedom. In 1788 "absolute monarchy was collapsing... What would replace it?" (Mckay, 706). The three estates would quarrel for the next few years about how to proceed. In the end the National Assembly would form, vowing not to disband until a new constitution was born. On August 27, 1789 the National Assembly (NA) issued the: Declaration of the rights of man. By 1790 the NA would hold the power of lawmaking. Although it did not last long, the idea was there and it did bring about some type of reform. Unfortunately, Napoleon would reign and dictatorship would once again reign in France.

This statement shows how poorly people of the lower class were treated, and how corrupt this system of government is on the people of France. Once the French monarchy faced bankruptcy in 1787, the Estates General was called, and a new form of government was formed called the National Assembly. This government was composed of members of the third estate, because they were the only estate that had to pay taxes when they were already poor. The National Assembly was the rightful representatives of the French people, who demanded tax reform and greater political equality. In a report of the British Ambassador, the Duke

Before the French Revolution, there were three estates, or classes: the nobility, the clergy and the commoners. The nobility and the clergy had many more privileges than the third estate and that is what caused the French Revolution. The Third estate was composed of the peasants, the workers and the bourgeoisie; unlike the other segments of the Third Estate, the bourgeoisie was able to communicate its grievances to the public during the period after the French Revolution: 1789-1799.

The decision to halt the king was significant because it showed the people were loyal to the oath taken to honor the National Assembly and the Constitution. The Estates General became known as the National Assembly because the social orders within France were now represented under one body of government. When the king took the oath to honor the Constitution and the National Assembly

Citizens were not permitted to vote as individuals. Instead one vote was given to each of the three estates, the clergy (first), aristocrats (second), and everyone else excluded from the first two, who were most commonly peasants and the working class (third) (Roberts et al. 646). Unsurprisingly, the Third Estate was outvoted and citizens within became furious. They, “…insisted that those who worked [for low wages] and pay taxes were the nation…” (Roberts et al. 646) Shortly afterward, the National Assembly was born and was determined to take France’s future into its own (Belloc, 93).

The published letter of the king’s reasoning for departure also served the public with rage, and, “equally significant for the future of the Revolution was the dramatic change in attitude toward the king…everything was transformed by the king’s flight.” (Tackett, 101) People in the streets of Paris were throwing out their portraits of the royal family and were seeing the king, the one they praised a week ago, as a deserter and conspirator to their newly-formed and praised government. The use of rumor and newspapers by members of The Cordelier Club also helped spread certain radical ideals in which prompted the idea of turning France into a republic, and of dissembling the monarchy and the king altogether. It was this power in the streets of Paris that would soon grow with every day after the king fled, as, “Outside the Legislative Assembly, however, the more radical revolutionaries had managed to hold the loyalty of most of the provincial club network, giving them a powerful propaganda tool.” (Popkin, 58) The National Assembly was still strong in its number of members favorable of this new constitutional monarchy, but it was in the streets and with the people that the actual aspect of the Revolution was shifting. Members of the National Assembly were getting restless

Immediately after the Meeting of the Estates General, the lower class people met a a tennis court, they formed what we know as the National Assembly. They took an oath, which is like a pledge, to not leave until a constitution was written and finally a constitution was written. The people attempted to present the Constitution of 1791 to the King in order for him to sign it but, he refused.I was angry that the King did not sign the Constitution because it was best for the people. The King may have not signed the Constitution that the people created but, this was a step towards a democracy because, a Constitution has been written and presented to the King.

The Tennis Court Oath was a way to finally get equal rights. This meeting was held by the commoners to write a new constitution. We wanted a constitution for the French to get equal say in the government. The meeting voted by head, not by order. At the Tennis Court Oath, the Third Estate took a pledge to force a new constitution on the King. The Third Estate, which had the most representatives, declared itself the Nation Assembly. I was proud to be a part of it. We created the Constitution of 1791, which declared equal rights for the Third Estate. This constitution let voting be by head, and not by order, so that the commoners would have equal rights with the Clergy and Nobility. This event lead to the rise in Democracy because the

It was the actions of the Paris Parlement that forced Louis XVI to agree to call a meeting of the Estates-General. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.

During the French Revolution, King Louis XVI was in charge of the monarchy and was deposed in 1792 and later executed in 1793 (The French Revolution (1789-1799)). King Louis XVI fell into massive debt which forced him to give into the Parlement of Paris and the Estates-General, this then leading to the Revolution. After the absolute monarchy was disbanded, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted. As reported by The French Revolution by history,com, the declaration proclaimed the Assembly’s commitment to replace the old system with one that was based on equal opportunity, freedom of speech, popular sovereignty, and representative government. The National Assembly soon learned that it wasn’t easy to govern or be in charge of a country, this shown by the months it took to draft a constitution for France (The French Revolution). According to this article, many questions were asked when it came to creating the constitution such as “Would the clergy owe allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church or the French government?” or “Who would be responsible for electing delegates?”

The period 1815-1914 in Europe was important, as it was the time of the growth of constitutional government, however events from the French Revolution had a significant impact on the 19th century Europe. French revolutions has began when in 1774 Louise XVI had to deal with a financial crisis cause by 'seven year 's war '. Louise XVI had agreed to summon 'Estate-General ', which represented the clergy, nobles and the Third Estate(the commoners). Inspired by the issues with the voting system of the estate-general, the third assembly has called themselves National Assembly, and threatened to proceed without the clergy and nobles if necessary. On 9 of July 1789 under king 's agreement clergy and nobles has joined the assembly, which was officially called National Constituent Assembly. On the 4 of august 1789 the assembly issued a 'Declaration of the Rights of Man ', which stated that the nation, not the monarchy, was the superior authority, and that the elected representatives of the state would proclaim liberty and equality for the citizens, the right to property and to resit oppression. In respond to peasant riots and attacks on chateaux, the assembly abolished feudalism. By the 1792 both radicals, full of hope to spread the ideas of the Revolution, and the king, optimistic that war would either improve his authority or support from foreign armies. As both agreed in April 20, 1792 France proclaimed a war against Austria. Louise XVI hoped that the war would strengthen his

In essence, the Estate General members converted themselves into a National Assembly and issued the ‘Declaration of Right of Man’, which stated ‘men are born free and equal in rights’. As a result, this facet gave the French Revolution its solang of ‘Liberty, ‘Equality’ and ‘Fertunity’. This meant, that France will no longer be ruled on an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and churches. Furthermore, the Estate General now known as the National Assembly seized all the wealthy churches properties and took the king and queen captive. Thus, the city was left in their hands.