The French Revolution

1. During the French revolution there were many different kind of social classes. The three estates were the clergy, nobility, and the bourgeoisie. Many people in France were critical of the nobility which were the upper class. It numbered around 400,000 people. They were wealthy and had a lot of money so they didn't have to pay taxes. They were one of the members of society that had many privileges. They didn’t have to do military service. They holded positions of importance like officers in an army. Kings didn't have to pay taxes either they recieved them.They lived in beautiful palaces and took control of all of France. They ruled absolutely everything. The peasents were treated unfair because they were poor. They were the church peasants and the lowest class. They made up 90% of the population. They had to pay taxes and feudal dues. They had to use the lord’s mill, oven, and winepress and pay for it.

2. Something that the French peasants might have been mad about in 1969 would be that they were really poor and they had to pay taxes and feudal dues to the king. They had to work really hard and give most of there money to the king who was already rich. They were the lowest class with the most population and yet had to pay so much money. They were forced to do military service and could not hunt or fish on noble’s estates.

3. The point that the cartoonist is trying to make is that the peasant is carrying the Nobel and the lord. There mad that they have to pay taxes and that the king has to pay nothing. All the poor people had to pay 50% of taxes. “One hopes this will end soon” is the quote they use to describe the cartoon. The peasants want this unfairness to go away it is too much for them to carry. The money that was collected from them went to the nobles, king and lord. They hope for the king to loose absolute power so that they won’t have to pay anymore taxes.

4. The lives of the French peasants was very bad. All there money went to the kings. They had to pay taxes and feudal dues to the king. They had many dues to pay. For example the 20kg of wheat, three chickens and 60kg of oats. Peasants only lived with a cow, a little peace of land, and a poorhouse. They were being crushed with all the things they had to pay.

5. Sources A, B, and C represent why poor people in France resented the rich. Peasants worked really hard and all they got for there income was 200 livres while the priest and marquis got about 20,000 livres. “The taxes and feudal dues are crushing us.” Peasants had little to enjoy because all there money went to the king. They were left with almost nothing from there income. All peasants hoped for the King to loose absolute power so that they wouldn’t have to pay taxes and feudal dues. They had no freedom.

6. Voltaire wanted France to have a more “democratic” form of government. Someone that agreed with him were the peasants. They wanted to choose there own government they didn’t want to have a king or someone to rule over them. They didn’t want to have to pay taxes. They wanted a normal good life. If they didn’t like there government they had the right to change him over someone else.

7. The pamphlet was banned in 1775 because it went against what the French people believed in. The king didn’t really care what the peasants thought because he had absolute power over everything. All he cared about was that he received his taxes and feudal dues. The peasants wanted to fight for there rights and in what they believed in was fair. The other states wanted to ban it because they wanted the peasant to do all the work. The king didn’t do anything because he depended on all the peasants.