The Estates
Estates
The King faced with
bankrupcy, tried to raise revenues
from the aristocracy by calling the
Estates General into session. They
organized into 3 estates: the
Nobility, Clergy, and the Third Estate. The Third Estate insisted each
delegate should have one vote when an uprising occurred into the
Bastille in 1789, the leadership of the Third Estate organized to
defend the city, while constituting themselves as the National
Assembly.
Society in the Old Regime was divided into three classes called
the Estates. The First Estate was made up of all the clergy members.
The Second Estate was made up of nobility. The Third Estate, which
was the largest, was made up of peasants, city workers, and the
middle class. In 1789, Louis XVI called the meeting of the Estates in
Versailles. Once in session, the Estates assumed the powers of the
government. They made a pledge to themselves not to seperate until
they gave France a constitution. In 1792, the National Convention
declared France a republic, and had the king tried as a traitor and
condemned to death.
The people of the Third Estate were the backbone of the
country. They paid the largest share of taxes, yet had very few
privaleges and had little to no influence on the Monarch. It wasn't
until the Estates- General was formed that the people of the Third
Estate had a voice in government. Even so the Third Estate would
lose by a vote of two to one. The First and Second Estate always
overruled any laws that would help the people of the Third Estate.
The King faced with
bankrupcy, tried to raise revenues
from the aristocracy by calling the
Estates General into session. They
organized into 3 estates: the
Nobility, Clergy, and the Third Estate. The Third Estate insisted each
delegate should have one vote when an uprising occurred into the
Bastille in 1789, the leadership of the Third Estate organized to
defend the city, while constituting themselves as the National
Assembly.
Society in the Old Regime was divided into three classes called
the Estates. The First Estate was made up of all the clergy members.
The Second Estate was made up of nobility. The Third Estate, which
was the largest, was made up of peasants, city workers, and the
middle class. In 1789, Louis XVI called the meeting of the Estates in
Versailles. Once in session, the Estates assumed the powers of the
government. They made a pledge to themselves not to seperate until
they gave France a constitution. In 1792, the National Convention
declared France a republic, and had the king tried as a traitor and
condemned to death.
The people of the Third Estate were the backbone of the
country. They paid the largest share of taxes, yet had very few
privaleges and had little to no influence on the Monarch. It wasn't
until the Estates- General was formed that the people of the Third
Estate had a voice in government. Even so the Third Estate would
lose by a vote of two to one. The First and Second Estate always
overruled any laws that would help the people of the Third Estate.