Rishi Garg

IB European History
Mr. Swan/Mr. Duran
23 September 2008

What role did the lower classes play in the French

Revolution?

The lower classes played a highly significant role in the French

Revolution. Terminologically, they were referred to as the Third Estate of

France. This Estate, comprised of about 96% of the population, bound

together to bring an end to the Old Regime of oppression and subjugation.

While the privileged First and Second Estates were growing and becoming

ever more useless, the Third Estate’s bitter feelings and resentment toward

the other two Estates was intensifying to the point of explosion. This uprising

of feelings brought about mass riots and demonstrations, such as the

Storming of the Bastille. The most important role of the Third Estate,

however, was their continual push for universal human rights.

The days of the Old Regime of France were numerous and took their

toll on the Third Estate. The First Estate was comprised of clergymen who

owned only 5-10% of France’s land. This Second Estate encompassed all of

the nobility of France. These two classes, combined, accounted for only

about 5% of the country’s population. However, a large percent of the people

in these classes were exempt from taxes and duties. In order to regain

financial stability from all the failed wars in the past, the French monarchy

began selling titles of nobility. Between 1774 and 1789, 3,389 people
purchased these titles. Although these sales temporarily satisfied the need

for money, they created a growing wealthy class with substantial tax

exemptions and no purposeful duties. The monarchy had essentially created

“an aristocracy that was ever more splendid, yet ever less useful” (Breunig

4). When the monarchy realized that this method was not resolving the fiscal

crisis, a taille (head tax) was imposed heavily on the lower classes. The Third

Estate was understandably furious and felt that because they made up the

vast majority of the country’s population, only they had the right to govern

France. This led to the many protests and riots.

The numerous riots and demonstrations of the French Revolution

served to incur damage not only to the physical buildings and people

involved in the rebellion, but also to the power of the Old Regime. The first

major riot was the storming of the Bastille, which was a prison in Paris that

had, for years, symbolized the iron grip of the Old Regime. Political prisoners

who opposed the regime were said to have been held and brutally tortured

within the prison’s stone walls. On July 14th, 1789, a giant mob of angry Third

Estate citizens attacked the prison viciously. The prison’s governor, Bernard

de Launay, decided to surrender in order to prevent major damage. Upon the

opening of the prison gates, the mob rushed in, stole about 28,000 muskets,

and grabbed de Launay. He was roughly dragged through the streets of Paris

before being beheaded. In the end, only 7 prisoners were found, but the riot

was successful nevertheless; the lower classes had clearly expressed a

message of tremendous resentment and fury against the injustices of the Old

Regime.

Perhaps the most important role of the Third Estate in the French

Revolution was that of a continual push for freedom and rights. Many of the

major changes in legislature involving universal rights and democracy

occurred between 1789 and 1791. For example, during the Night of August

4th, 1789, a group of nobles gathered to renounce their feudal rights and tax

exemptions. For centuries, the traditional feudal system had been oppressing

the Third Estate of citizens to the point of starvation and homelessness.

However, on that groundbreaking night, feudalism was all but destroyed in

France forever. This revolutionary act was provoked by the continual

grievances and protests by the vast population of the Third Estate. The

nobles believed that partial surrender was the only method by which to quell

the uprising revolution. Shortly after, the Declaration of Rights of Man and

Citizen was adopted by the National Assembly on August 27th, 1789. This

historic document contained seventeen articles with basic universal rights

that had never been officially placed into action in France before. Phrases

such as “freedom of thought”, “equal man”, and “natural rights” began to be

heard all over the country for the first time. The Declaration not only

reinforced human rights, but it also was the first major step toward

converting France from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy.

This groundbreaking document was created by people who sympathized with

the injustices inflicted upon the lower classes. The writing of revolutionary
documents and legislature would not stop there; the willpower of the Third

Estate to overcome the tyrants of the Old Regime would continue to

materialize in different ways.

The Third Estate of France contributed greatly to the radical and

pioneering steps toward universal human rights taken in the French

Revolution. The mass protests by the lower classes served would not only

serve as inspiration for later protests in the Revolution, but also for protests

for rights in other countries. In addition, the groundbreaking documents

regarding human rights created by revolutionary leaders would serve as

models for later documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. The lower classes of France significantly contributed to the

beginnings of universal human rights in France and the world.