Revolution and Reaction questions

Revolution and Reactions Chapter 1
1. What were the main features of the three orders of estates?
2. What made someone a noble?
3. What did some members of the bourgeoisie have in common with some nobles?
4. A. What privileges did the nobility enjoy that the Third Estate did not?
b. What are the implications of that the bulk of the tax burden fell on the peasantry?
c. What do the existence and sale of venal offices suggest about the ambitions of the wealthy bourgeoisie?
5. What was the relationship between harvests and the well-being of French Industry?
6. How absolute was royal authority in practice?
7. What can you infer from this narrative about the abilities and qualities of Louis XVI as a monarch?
8. Why did the issue of representation and voting cause such controversy?
9. Why do you think that parish priests who began to join the Third Estate?
10. In what ways did the army the course of events in July 1789?
11. On what grounds sis philosophes criticize existing institutions like the church, the monarchy and the privileged orders?
12. In what ways can the Enlightenment be said to have caused the French Revolution?
13. Which of these reasons do you think are the most important in explaining the failure to enact effective reform?
14. Which of the three impacts do you think was the most important and why?
15. List the ways in which the king could be described as weak.
16. Was the bourgeoisie rising or falling in the eighteenth century?


Revolution and Reactions Chapter 2
1. A.On what issues did the Third Estate agree with the nobility and on what sis they disagree?
b. What were the main concerns of the peasantry?
2. A. In what ways did the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen contrast with the principles of the ancien regime?
b. With which principles in the declaration would you agree and why?
3. How far do the proposals in the Constitutional Articles reflect the principle of the Separation of powers advocated by Montesquieu?
4. Why can the October Day be seen as a turning point in the course of the revolution?
5. Why do you think the assembly decided on the distinction between active and passive citizens?
6. Which groups would benefit most from the economic changes and why?
7. For what reasons did decisions about the Catholic Church begin to cause divisions in France?
8. A. What evidence is there in this and previous sections that revolutionaries had reason to distrust the King?
b. What impact did the attitude and actions of the king have on the course of events between 1789 and 1791?
9. What does the fact that only a quarter of active citizens voted in the elections for the Legislative Assembly tell you?
10. Why sis both the assembly and court want war?
11. In what ways did the war affect the course of events in France?
12. On what issues did the Girondins and Montagnards agree and disagree?
13. A. What alternatives were there to putting the king on trial and executing him?
b. Why do you think alternative solutions to the problem of what to do with the king were rejected?
14. Identify the main elements of the crisis facing the government in the spring of 1793.
15. Why were so many of the deputies of the National Convention opposed to price controls? (Think about their social status and what that implies about their economic views)
16. How did the Convention deal with the economic grievances of the sans-culottes?
17. Can you explain the excesses of the Terror in areas of revolt?
18. What were the main features of dechristianization?
19. Why did some begin to call for an end of 1793?
20. Why had Robespierre lost support by July 1794?
21. In what ways did the Jacobin clubs influence the course and nature of the French Revolution?
22. In what ways and with what success did sans-culottes influence the course of the revolution?
23. Draw up a timeline showing periods of economic crisis. How far do the periods of crisis coincide with major journees?
24. What were the main features of counterrevolution during the periods 1789-95?

My answers for Ch1. ANd yes, I do know 11 isnt answered.

Revolution and Reactions Chapter 1
1. What were the main features of the three orders of estates?
The clergy possessed their own courts, had their own assembly to control affairs, were exempt from many direct and indirect taxes, and collected tithe.
The nobles had privileges under the law, were exempt from the main direct tax, taille, and forced labor on the roads, corvee royale, and had the right to bear a sword and access officer status in the military.
The Third Estate includes bourgeoisie, urban workers and peasantry. The peasantry are responsible to pay money to the lord(corvee), 12 % of the harvest, transfer tax on sale, inheritance tax on land, use of the mill, hunting rights, tithe, direct royal taxes (taille, vingtieme, and capitation), indirect taxes(gabelle) and labor on the roads (corvee royale).
2. What made someone a noble?
You could be noble if you descended from old feudal nobility (nobility of the sword), gain your status (nobility of the robe), conferred nobility or purchased in the law courts and royal administration (anoblis).
3. What did some members of the bourgeoisie have in common with some nobles?
Some of the bourgeoisie are as wealthy or wealthier than the nobles and educated as well.
4. A. What privileges did the nobility enjoy that the Third Estate did not?
Nobility enjoyed exemption from direct and indirect taxes, and forced labor on roads.
b. What are the implications of that the bulk of the tax burden fell on the peasantry? In burdening the peasantry, the class system implied that they were inferior and that all men are not created equally, giving the hierarchy reason to reign over them.
c. What do the existence and sale of venal offices suggest about the ambitions of the wealthy bourgeoisie? The wealthy bourgeoisie want to experience the rights of the nobility, and the power in which that estate holds.
5. What was the relationship between harvests and the well-being of French Industry? If the harvests come out well, the French Industry flourishes and vice versa.
6. How absolute was royal authority in practice? Louis XVI’s rule, although theoretically absolute, was bound by customs, laws of the realm, and respect to the privileges and rights of various bodies and institutions within the kingdom.
7. What can you infer from this narrative about the abilities and qualities of Louis XVI as a monarch? Louis XVI was disconnected from his people, unables to control the parlements and other opposing authorities, and indecisive of his own decisions.
8. Why did the issue of representation and voting cause such controversy? Each estate only has one vote. The Nobles and Clergy would band together to vote out the Third Estate. This is why when the Estates General was call for, the Third Estate called for representation and individual votes.
9. Why do you think that parish priests who began to join the Third Estate? Parish priests do not have the benefits that the bishops have. They will be better represented by the party of the Third Estate.
10. In what ways did the army affect the course of events in July 1789? When the king gathered troops around Paris brought suspicion from the people that there was going to be a coup. This caused the people to raid grain stores, attack barriers, and form their own provisional army. The fear of this army went further as the new National Guard raided weapons and attacked the Bastille.
11. On what grounds did philosophes criticize existing institutions like the church, the monarchy and the privileged orders?
12. In what ways can the Enlightenment be said to have caused the French Revolution? The Enlightenment brought about the questioning of authority and existing institutions. These ideas reached the common, oppressed people who in being burdened began questioning monarchy and the idea that one person was better than another.
13. Which of these reasons do you think are the most important in explaining the failure to enact effective reform? The reforms constrained the flow of credit to manage existing debt. This is one of the most important reasons of failure because of the growing debt and need to pay it off.
14. Which of the three impacts do you think was the most important and why?The political impact was the most important because it was proof that the Enlightened ideas of a different institution without a monarch .
15. List the ways in which the king could be described as weak. King Louis XVI is weak in his hesitance in the following ways;
He constantly changes directions during his reign.
He presses for reform but retreats from it at the first sign of opposition.
He changes ministers whenever under pressure.
His failure to on deciding whether or not the Estates General will be a vote by head provoked the declaration of the National Assembly and moved negative attention not only to the privileged orders, but the monarchy as well.
16. Was the bourgeoisie rising or falling in the eighteenth century?
The bourgeoisie was on the rise in the eighteenth century , containing 2.5 million members , much more compared with only about 750,000 during the 17th century.