...The Problem of Bread and the French Revolution at Bordeaux Author(s): Richard Munthe Brace Source: The American Historical Review, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Jul., 1946), pp. 649-667 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1843902 . Accessed: 31/05/2014 09:57 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Oxford University Press and American Historical Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The American Historical Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 168.28.193.235 on Sat, 31 May 2014 09:57:49 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The Problem of Breadand the French Revolution at Bordeaux RICHARD MUNTHE BRACE* IN France throughout the eighteenth century, the city of Bordeaux experienced a progressive commercial development. Among the assets contributing to this growth were excellent harbor facilities and the fortunate location for trade with the West Indies...
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...How did the March on Versailles affect how women were treated during the French Revolution and what were the results? Before the French Revolution began the amount of rights women had was questioned very little. No one questioned women being expected to only do things around the house until 1789 when women became vocal and demanded to have the same freedoms as men. After lower class men demanded for more rights with the Declaration of the Rights of Man, women were given confidence to make a stand for their own rights. Although it was sent by an anonymous writer, a petition was sent to the king by women from the third estate wishing for more privileges . The March on Versailles was due to the outrage over rising bread prices. Thousands of women...
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...separation of the Estates General, the French Revolution was a huge political, social, and economic upset that occurred in three parts: the First Revolution, the Second Revolution, and the Thermidorian Reaction with Napoleon’s era. Each section benefitted a different part of France’s vast class system and was detrimental to others. While the First Revolution was most beneficial for the bourgeoisie, the Second Revolution helped the sans culottes, and the Thermidorian Reaction and Napoleon helped the wealthy classes again. The First Revolution of the French Revolution was based around the Enlightenment thinker Locke’s ideas. He believed that there should be consent of the governed and that all citizens have the rights...
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...The French Revolution of 1789 had many long-range causes. Political, social, and economic conditions in France contributed to the discontent felt by many French people-especially those of the third estate. The ideas of the intellectuals of the Enlightenment brought new views to government and society. The American Revolution also influenced the coming of the French Revolution. The Philosophes planted the seeds for the French Revolution. Their goals were to expose and destroy the inequalities of the ancient regime (old order). The political discontent of France was one of the causes of the Revolution. In the 17th and 18th centuries, France was ruled by an absolute government. The king had all the political powers. Anyone who criticized the government could be arrested and put in prison without trial. Louis XVI was king at the time of the French Revolution. He was more interested in hunting than governing France. He and his Austrian queen, Marie Antoinette, lived an extravagant life at the Palace of Versailles. They did not really care about the state of their country. The excerpt from the cahiers mentioned in document 3 shows that the votes in the assembly were not taken by head. The people of the 3rd estate felt a sense of betrayal when the king supported the block voting over the head voting. The first two estates worked together to outvote the large third estate to keep them from becoming a threat to the power. Lord Acton, an Englishmen, states that the monarchy being overthrown...
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...Name Institution Professor Date The French revolution began in 1789 until the late 1790’s. This revolution was an influential period of political upheaval in France with various social aspects. The French revolution was mainly inspired by radical and liberal ideas altering the course of modern history. The revolution triggered the decline of absolute monarchies and theocracies then replaced them with democracies and republics (Hibbert, 1999). The revolutionary wars unleashed global conflicts that extended from the Middle East to the Caribbean. This revolution was later termed by historians as being one of the greatest events to occur in the human history. Historians debate amongst themselves the causes of the great French revolution, based on the compound nature of the situation. After the American Revolution and the seven years’ war, the French government was deep in debt and thought of restoring its financial status trough the introduction of taxation schemes (Brown, 2008). Privileges enjoyed by the aristocrats and the clergy were resented after bad harvests hence also leading to the revolution. Enlightenment ideals were in demand for change of the situation at hand that resulted in the convocation of estates general and took place in May 1789. Members of the third estate took control in the first year of the revolution that saw the declaration of the right of man being passed, assault on the Bastille and the march of women Versailles...
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...Causes of the French revolution The French Revolution of 1789 had many long-range causes. Political, social, and economic conditions in France contributed to the discontent felt by many French people-especially those of the third estate. The ideas of the Enlightenment brought new views to government and society. The American Revolution also influenced the French Revolution. The political dissatisfaction of France was one of the causes of the Revolution. In the 17th and 18th centuries, France was ruled by an absolute government. The king had all the political powers. Anyone who criticized the government could be arrested and put in prison without trial. Louis XVI was king at the time of the French Revolution. He was more interested in hunting than governing France. He and his Austrian queen, Marie Antoinette, lived an extravagant life at the Palace of Versailles. They did not really care about the state of their country. The people of the 3rd estate felt a sense of betrayal when the king supported the block voting over the head voting. The first two estates worked together to outvote the large third estate to keep them from becoming a threat to the power. An Englishmen, states that the monarchy being overthrown wasn't the spark of the Revolution. He recognizes the American Independence as the spark of the French Revolution. The French government was inefficient, unjust and corrupt. There were numerous government departments, different laws in different parts of the country and...
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...French Revolution The French Revolution was successful because change did occur. The problems that prompted the people to strive for change included starvation, economic trouble and weak leadership. The people tried to accomplish change through storming in the Bastille, National Assembly and the women’s march on Versaille. The Revolution resulted in the death of the king, rise of Napoleon and congress of Vienna; which revealed that revolution did not lead to change in France. Starvation, economic problems as well as weak leadership led people to want change. People wanted to fix starvation because bread prices were expensive. Another problem they wanted to change was the problems of the economy because taxes were too high for the peasants. The women’s march on Versaille was an interesting march because it included thousands of women furious over how high bread prices were. These women carried weapons such as; knifes axes, and pitch forks to kill guards when they broke into the palace. One last problem they had to fix was weak leadership from Louis and Marie. Louis would react slow when problems would break out, as for Marie she would spend the money as if money grew on trees. Buying clothes, throwing parties and splurging her-self with jewelry would be the things she would spend the money on. Revealing how people tried to bring about change of government, society was the events of the storming of the Bastille, National Assembly and the women’s march on Versaille. The storming...
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...Writing Assignment The French Revolution in 1789 came as a surprise to many people during that time. For a country with such absolute Monarchy and was advanced in every single way comparing to other European countries, revolution is something that no one would expect. However, some Primary Sources clearly shows evidence of the need for revolution among the commoners in France. Some factors that had caused the idea of rebellion include a king that’s completely incompetent, the bankruptcy in the country and hope of liberty after seeing the success of American Revolution. In the end it is the eager for freedom and anger towards high taxes in the third estate that finally led France into the great revolution. In Arthur Young’s travel diaries, he stressed a few key circumstances that led to the outbreak of French Revolution. In his opinion, the French Revolution was not so much a surprise and the seeds of revolution had been spread and deeply ingrained in the French long ago. First, he pointed out the long unsolved financial problem that had been bothering the nation. However, the king in throne does not have the knowledge to solve such crisis nor do the court that immersed themselves in pleasure. On top of the financial crisis, the commoners wanted for some immediate change but do not know what to look up to and hope for. I think what Young is trying telling us is that the root to the revolution is the mass bankruptcy in the country. The king could have solved this primary crisis...
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...The French Revolution Before the French Revolution, France was ruled and governed by the king and parliament. King Louis XVI ruled by “divine right,” believing that he had been put on the throne by the grace of God. France then was one of the most powerful and wealthiest countries, and had a strong army, and even stronger cultural influence. Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette were shielded from the daily lives of the ordinary people in France. When Louis XVI inherited the throne in 1774, he also inherited many problems left behind by the previous king, King Louis XV. France was divided into three estates with their own status and role to play in the country. The First Estate involved religious people in the country. The Second Estate involved all the nobles. These two estates had many privileges, and were the wealthiest group, but were only a small piece of the entire population. The Third Estate was everyone else in the country: the peasants, poor city dwellers, and the “middle class”. The Third Estate was the largest group, and had little to no power, even though it was the largest group. In order to pay off national debts, Louis XVI increased taxes in the Third Estate, which impacted many of their lives. Because of the taxes, industry started to lag, and there were bread shortages in many places. They barely had any food and had to live of bread. King Louis XVI was a bad king and the people had every right to hate him and his wife. The people didn’t have any...
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...“When dictatorship becomes a fact, revolution becomes a right.” These words by Victor Hugo, a French poet, can be used to describe the French Revolution that took place in 1789. This revolution was coming for a long time before it actually took place, and the rebels behind the movement had several motives. Some of these motives included the oppression of the Third Estate of the Estate General, the lack of food and general resources in France, and the inspiration of the American Declaration of Independence. When the Estate General was called for the first time in years, when the pressure for reform was heavy in France, an injustice appeared. The Estate General was divided into three parts, the First Estate, which was comprised of the church...
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...The Role of Women in the French Revolution Sarah A.Butt Western Civilization 3rd March 2010 The French revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of hatred and blood. It was a period of political upheaval of the country, and of world importance in France. Issues of rights and equality has always been a heated debate in the world, however, during the French Revolution, equality was the main exhilarating and impassioned concept that was put into matter and effect. The French Revolution, was the period of revolutionaries revolting for liberty and equality, failed to provide equals rights as French men for the French women. Even though, women played a significant role during the French Revolution, they however did not get the respect in their society, neither were they treated equally as men. In spite of their vibrant contribution throughout the Revolution, their involvements always proved contentious. The eighteen century was a period of revolutionaries, and feministic activities. One of the main causes of the further turmoil in France was the Austrian wife of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette. In the beginning, Marie Antoinette was loved by the commoners, as she would always help them when they would get accidentally shot by Louis XVI during his hunting. However, after when Antoinette’s frivolous spending habits started to arose, people were extremely infuriated. She would squander their taxes and hard work on gambling, and wearing the most fashionable clothes, subsequently...
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...French Revolution Essay. The French Revolution came about through many causes that included financial problems and food scarcity. France was in financial crisis due to their participation in the seven years war and American Revolution. By 1789, France encountered bankruptcy because of the country’s indiscriminate inequitable system of taxation. France at the time was a nation where society was dominated by class. The clergy and nobility were exempted from taxation leaving peasants who were barely scraping by to also suffer heavy taxation. This led to the system government not being able to levy enough tax to deficit. The second cause of this event; food scarcity was also a huge problem. Crop failure, famine and harsh winters led to high prices of bread, which was the main food source for peasants. The poor conditions in the rural had forced rural residents to move into Paris, and the city was overcrowded and filled with the hungry and disaffected. Therefore peasants suffered incredibly from economic and agricultural problems. The fact that the peasants were angered by the increased tax and agricultural problems had caused an even greater problem towards the financial crisis. Furthermore, French Revolution had not only caused catastrophe to the country, but had also affected the people involved in this event, especially the peasants in France. The French Revolution began because people of the Third Estate (poorest French citizens) wanted more share in government and fairer taxes...
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...Hello, my name is Kassie Isbell and my tech essay is on Queen Marie Antoinette. I also mention the French Revolution as she contributed to much of the dissatisfaction. I chose this topic because she was a rather disfavored queen since the beginning of her reign because she was Austrian, whose history with France was not the greatest. Also, the activities she had done throughout her rule brought disparagement and only instigated the people to grow discontent with the aristocracy and monarchy. This is important because the French Revolution divided the people into pro and anti-revolutionary bodies and Marie Antoinette nonchalantly became the narcissistic, apathetic mascot of France. THESIS Life in the beginning Ok, let’s start off from the beginning,...
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...There are five causes, four stages and two relevant effects for the French Revolution, the causes are: Absolute Monarchism, Social Inequality, Economic Injustice,Enlightenment and Others Revolutions. The stages are: Tennis Court Oath, The Great Fear, The Reign of Terror and The Moderation, and the relevant effects was: The Spread of the Idea of a Democratic Government, and Nationalism.Napoleon also help to the stages. The French Revolution started at 1789 and ended in 1799. The first cause was Absolute Monarchism. The Absolute Monarch created by king Louis was, when the king and the queen have all power and everyone else, also called as stage three do not has any power, the people do not have any choice, for what the king going to do to the country. The second cause was the Social Inequality, this was how they were separate in order of importance, like first estate, second estate and third estate. The first estate was the clergy, the second estate was nobility and the third estate was everyone else, in the third estate there was Bourgeoisie, that are peoples that work, like the middle class, the small business people, artisans and others jobs. The third cause was Economic Inequality (Economic Injustice), that was because the first and second estate do not pay any tax and the third estate, that was...
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...The French Revolution happened in 1789 and ended at 1799.There were five causes for the French Revolution: Absolute Monarchy, Social Inequality, Economic Injustice, Enlightenment, and Other Revolutions. During the French Revolution there were four stages: The Tennis Court Oath, The Great Fear, The Rain Of Terror, and Moderation. There were two relevant effects that were called, The Spread of The Idea of a Democratic Government, and Nationalism.Napoleon was a very important guy during the French Revolution. In 1789 France was ruled under an Absolute Monarchism. The Absolute Monarchism happened when King Louie and Queen Marin Marian Twenet of France made a final decision and no one could complain. In France people were broken up into three states,...
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