Revolutions for Enlightenment During the eighteenth century, people were angry and miserable. They sought for alternatives in the way they were living, and how they existed in society. Many minority groups revolted against their governments or people of authority because they felt as if they were being treated unfairly. In other words, the government was not treating everyone as equals. Not everyone had the right to own property, vote, and some did not have the right to freedom of speech. If you were the slave, rather than the slave owner, you were poor and very dependent on your owner for survival but worked in harsh conditions with little to no pay. New ideas of enlightenment eventually led to a society where equality became more apparent …show more content…
For the superiors to remain high in the social hierarchy, their goal was to keep the citizens under their control. As a result, commoners usually had no choice but to stop in their tracks, for fear of imprisonment or death. During the Age of Revolution and European Enlightenment, individuals advocated for freedom and equality for all, but these ideas were not always executed or carried out as originally planned, as proven by the writers and leaders during this period. In document 22.2, author, Abbe de Sieyes claims that “freedom is not the consequence of privileges, but of the rights appertaining to all.” He thinks that just because the poor lacks privileges, does not mean they should lack freedom. To him, the Third Estate of France is everything. When saying this, he is comparing the Third Estate, which is comprised of the common people, to the privileged people of France. For instance, the common people did not have the proper representation. Usually, whoever represented them was, unfortunately, not appointed by them, so did not have their best interests in mind. Additionally, the Third Estate was always outvoted in the Estate General because their individual votes, which would have outnumbered the votes of the other two estates, were not counted, rather, each estate could claim one vote each. Of course, the privileged …show more content…
Sieyes believed that “if the privileged order were abolished, the nation would not be something less but something more,” meaning his ideal society is one where the nation would benefit from the Third estate coming into power (Envisioning 22.2). The author trusts that the Third Estate, made up of merchants and farmers, are more equipped than priests and aristocrats, to run the government and make political decisions. Therefore, his goal during the French Revolution was for everyone to be under the same common law and representation. The French Revolution was fought so that the privileged stopped using their status as an advantage in society, without taking into account the needs of the people that they claimed were below
The French Revolution was a drastic time for the people of France. In 1789, the majority of people were living in poverty and dealing with terrible conditions. People were split into three estates: the first, second, and third, the first being the wealthiest. Political, economic, and social situations were what contributed to people’s desire for change. The three main, or biggest causes of the French Revolution, were taxes, inequality, and lack of reform.
The French Revolution occurred due to the curtailing of the estates’ rights under King Louis XIV, who attempted to rule as an absolute autocrat and was later executed for this. The Enlightenment made it permissible for people to speak and question the rights of the time. After the Enlightenment, social rights, religious rights, and gender rights were expanded and advanced. Document one speaks of natural rights that extends to all of humanity with natural rights being any right that doesn’t hurt another, “You have the most sacred natural right to everything that is not disputed by the rest of the species.” By being a natural right, it couldn’t be denied to anyone, no matter gender, race, or time period.
In Emmanuel Sieyès’ the What is the Third Estate he states, “Only the lucrative and honorary positions are held by members of the privileged order…”(156). Both Spencer and Sieyès have similar thoughts in that the upper class are the ones that hold most, if not all, the power and wealth. Sieyès repeatedly mentions the word “privileged” which is referring to the upper class and those who do not have to work as much to get what they want. He also states the questions, “what is the third estate?” multiple times and one of his responses he says that third estate is everything, everything that is in a constant struggle and that is oppressed (156).
“I have tried to see not differently but further…”(Tocqueville, 1835) was Alexis de Tocqueville’s conclusion to the introduction of his perennial classic text Democracy in America, and adumbrates to the reader of his modern ideas and observations that were to follow. At the same time, he measures the progress of society through its relationship with equality and liberty. In this paper, I will highlight Tocqueville’s use of equality and liberty to compare the past and the modern, and establish his views on the effects of these concepts with society and each other. Finally, I will put forth that Tocqueville does not favour one concept over the other, but notes the complex relationship between the two and the importance of the co-existence of liberty and equality for a society of people. To begin, let us build the base case to compare with and look the past as defined by Tocqueville, with emphasis on equality and liberty.
This goes back to his question about what creates a nation. His answer is that it contains both the nobles and citizens who live according to the common law and represent the government as a whole. In short terms, the Third Estate contains everything. Sieyès wakes people up that even though the leaders have different responsibilities, it does not exclude them from certain laws or put them above the laws. For a nation to function, all people must serve for the government and obey the laws no matter what position they serve in their
During the Eighteenth Century, France had an absolute monarchy with Louis XVI as king and Marie Antoinette as queen. In that time period, French society was based upon a system of Estates where the clergy made up the First Estate; the nobility comprised the Second Estate, and everyone else including professionals, peasants, and the bourgeoisie made up the Third Estate. The Third Estate was immensely unhappy with the old regime, the Estates General, and Louis XVI’s leadership. France was also in the midst of a fiscal crisis due to the American Revolution, Louis XVI’s lavish lifestyle, the Seven Years War, and the tax exemption of the First and Second Estate. Following the surge of new ideas and impactful philosophers from the Enlightenment,
Maximilien Robespierre, a lawyer, politician, and member of the Jacobin Club, composed this speech in 1789 with the hope of removing the property requirement barriers in regards to voting and holding office in his home country, France. Robespierre was a “devoted defender of ‘the people’” (FR&HR 83) but, unfortunately he was not defending women, only men. This creates some complications in determining his sincerity because it is unclear if he truly meant what he stated, or simply wanted to gain more followers. Robespierre wrote this speech to convince members of higher classes how unfair the current system is and perhaps even to spark anger into the lives of those living in the Third Estate.
The main difference between the American and French Revoultion was that one successfully converted to a democratic government and one did not. The French Revolution was not successful in forming a democratic government due to France’s history of a monarchy, economic issues and divison among its’ people. Unlike America, France had a long history of sole rulers and dictatorship which made the change to a democratic government much more difficult and ultimately impossible. America’s motto of “all men are created equal” (Doc A) was the complete opposite of France’s dividing estate class system. The third estate consisted of peasents, common people and the bourgeoisie, the second estate belonged to the Nobles, and the first was the home to the Clergy.
The French people’s knowledge of their rights led them to believe that it is possible to achieve fairness and be respected in their own province. And lastly, the idea of questioning France’s government had peasants discover that their king barely even cared about their well-being and restricted them of representation.
Nobles lost their advantaged position in French society causing, among other things, loss of life, a perceived forced emigration to other lands, loss of property, and the end of seigneurial rights and income. Some of these advantages were subsequently recovered during Emperor Napoleon’s reign but many pre-Revolutionary rights were forever
Rousseau, one of the most leading philosophers during the Enlightenment, had indeed left many of legendries behind. Not only his writings had caused many of the reactions at that time, but also influenced many writers’ aspects of the French Revolution and the overall understanding of inequality and the General Will. As one of the chief political theorists during the French Revolution who was also influenced by Rousseau’s ideas, Abbe Sieyes, published the pamphlet, “What is the Third Estate?” in 1789. This pamphlet was one of the documents that changed the world and lit the flame toward the French Revolution, as characterized by Joe Janes, a University of Washington professor (Janes).
In 1789, France was precariously balanced on the edge of chaos. King Louis XVI was ruling monarch of France. King Louis’ youth depicted him as reckless, thoughtless, and unwise. A series of bad financial and political decisions, lead to his unpopularity among the people of France. King Louis was young, distracted and misguided.
“Qu 'est-ce que le tiers état”/ “What Is the Third Estate” by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes was one of the French Revolution’s most momentous and prominent political texts, shaping the course of events in 1789. It is a pamphlet structured around three hypothetical questions and Sieyes responses. These questions are: What is the third estate? Everything.
Both, more importantly the latter, will have colossal effect in fully structuring the French nation later on. Estates General was a representative assembly, consisting of three estates (social classes): First Estate (clergy) including Bishops and priests, the Second Estate (nobility) consists of former vassal lords and the Third Estate (bourgeoisie) envelopes all other members of the populace. (Palmer, p.567) The Estates General was first called in 1302, during the crisis of dispute between Philip the Fair and Pope Boniface VIII.
The French Revolution was one of the significant movements that transitioned the medieval world to the modern times. During this time, there were groups that wanted this revolution and two of these are Girondins and Jacobins. When these two revolutionary groups took seats in the French National Assembly, the political left and right dichotomy was born. The Girondins are on the right wing and the Jacobins are on the left wing. Girondins were inspired by the Bible and the Greek philosophers.