causes of the french revolution

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In 1789, the third estate, or middle and lower class, of France began to rebel against the absolute monarchy by which their county was run. There were many reasons which drove the third estate to start the French Revolution. These reasons included unfair treatment of the third estate, the third estate’s knowledge of Enlightenment Ideas, and the success of the American Revolution across the Atlantic. These were the three of the major causes which triggered the French Revolution. The first cause of the Revolution was the conditions in which the third estate lived. First of all, the third class paid very high taxes while the first and second estates paid none at all (Doc. 1, 3). Also, the price of goods, such as bread, which the third estate required to live, grew so high, that they were unable to pay for it (Doc. 1). Another reason the condition of the third class was so poor, was because, although they represented almost the entire population, together, they owned only slightly more than half of Frances land (Doc. 2). Finally, in the Estates General, each estate was only given one vote (Doc. 3). Because of this, even though the third estate vastly outnumbered the other two, they only counted as one vote, and were easily overpowered by the first and second estates. Being forced to live in these conditions, and being unable to advance to an upper estate, caused France’s middle and lower class to want a revolution. Another cause of the French Revolution was that the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers became known by the members of the middle and lower class (Doc.4). One Idea of British philosopher John Locke was that every man had basic rights, such as life, liberty, and property, which they could not be denied. The third estate realized that they were often denied these rights. Later on, they wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which stated the
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