Causes of the French Revolution Inthe 17805, long-standing resentments against the French monarchy fuelad anger throughout France. The source ofthe French people’ i wit could be found nthe unequal structure of French government andsodety. Social Inequalities ‘social and poltcal structure called the Ol Order erated inequalities in French sodety Under the ‘le Order, the king was atthe top, and thre social groups called estates were unde him, The Fest Eseate was made up of the Roman Catholic clergy, which comprised about 1% ofthe population Tey had hele several pivleges since the Miele Ages. For example, ether the dey nthe crc bad ay L\ sree tates nado, the church owned 10% ofthe nd wih produed ast sums of money nets nd fe. The Second Estate was made up of te nobly, which wa less ‘than 2% ofthe population. They cntrlld much ofthe ‘country’s wealth, ut ke the Fret state, they pid few taxes, Many members f the Second Estate help key postions in the government and military. They ved on Country estates whare peasants id al ofthe work and were forced to pay hgh ees and rents tothe landowner. Tha Tir Estate was the ages estate, comprising 37% of ‘the population Within this estate there wee several groups. tthe top were the barges, which were the ciydwelng merchants, factory owners, and professionals (awyers, doctors ete) Under the bourgeoisie were the artisans and workers ofthe ces. These were the shoemabes, carpenters briklayers, dressmaker, andiaborers. These workers wer also known asthe sane aletes,o those “without ine breeches. I these people had no work they went hungry. At the botom ofthe Third Estate were the peasants whe farmed he noble fields Not onl id they pay rent and fees tothe landoumers, but thay ako paid tanth of thir income t the church They hed te ptr br, uch a5 working on road, without pay. Many pearants were miserably poor ahad no hepe for better ie Influence of the American Revolution and Enlightenment ‘While socal inequalities were ving poor people toward revolt, new ideas {tor the Enlightenment ware aso inspiring the French Revoition, Many educated members of the bourgeoisie knew about the wrtirgs ofthe great Enlightenment philosophers ih Locke, Saran de Montesqule, and Jean Jacques Rousseau Members ofthe bourgeoisie also knew tot Great Britain's government limited the king's power. More recent, thy had learned that American colonists, inspired by Enlightenment ess, had successuly rebelled against Britsin’'s king. leas fom the Enightenment ik, fe, Uberty, and Propet, sped the Fench Revolition's slogan: Liberte, egal, eaerit, which ‘means “Uberty,Equalty, nd Brotherhood.” Seing how these ideas were ansforming government scasir: reaverand society in other courtres, some ofthe bourgeoisie began to consider how these ideas might be {sedin France. Financial Crisis and Famine (nthe eve ofthe Revolution, France wasin a stat of financial rss, severe aconone problems that, affected much ofthe country. France was deeply h debt. Over the previous centuries, they had borrowed huge sums of money to spend on wars, including the American Revolution Bu the King nd his cour continsed to spend avis, leading to even more borrowing and debt Mare Antoinette was called "Madame Deficit making fun ofhow much money she ost. gambling. Louis XI farther added fel othe fire by ‘missing financial ministers whe tried t ring about ‘form. By the 17805, this pater of spending and borrowing had taken the country deeply nto debt. By 1787 ‘ing Lous XV was desperate for money. He ried to tox the Second Estate, bu the nobles refused o pay. The hing, Incapable of the strong leadership the stuation required, backed down. yer lter the country faced bankruptcy, Half the taxes cofectd were needed just to pay the country’s deb. At the same time nature was creating other economic peablems. Fist, haistocm and 3 drought unad the harvet Then the winter of 1788 was the west in 80 yeas rote vers prevented waterwheel from powering the mil that ground wheat into lor. Food and firewood were scarce and expensive. Ashunger an cold made life wretched for thousands of French zens, misery grew into anger. The country wae bro, land people were hungry an angry. Elevinaing the tax exemption forthe Fst and Second Estates ould have helped the stuation,butthe ergy and the not ested all such efforts