Assesment Prep Time

Assess the effects of The _______ Revolution on different groups of people. (In the case of the
French revolution this would be:

1. The First Estate, anything related to the church

2. The Second Estate, people that have gained favour of the king or are related to the king
3. The Third Estate, anything else, they could be lawyers or rich merchants but still have no
chance at power

Make a judgment of value, quality, outcome, results on sides.

You should be writing your structure in 3 parts,

1. Causes
2. Courses
3. Results

Judge the effects, some examples may be:

- Stability
- Freedom
- Standard of Living, did it go up or down

Heres the structure

Intro - Thesis

Paragraph 1 - Describe one group prior to the revolution

Paragraph 2 - Describe 2 groups prior to revolution

Paragraph 3 - Describe 1-2 groups during the revolution

Paragraph 4 - Describe 1-2 groups after the revolution

Conclusion

Remember to

1. Respond to the keywords, use the key words in the question in an opening statement
2. Show knowledge and understanding of the context and time period. Show off your
knowledge
3. What higher order issues can you identify in the question? Who are the historians? Is
there a problem in how the history is constructed?
4. Respond to the question. An overarching argument that covers all the main body points
you will bring up. Make a judgment.
Consecutive Normal Punches

Primary Source, The storming of the Bastille

Extract from a confidential report from the British Ambassador, 30 July 1789 - 15 days
after the storming of the Bastille

“No less than seven Princes of the House of Bourbon & one Princess, have fled in consequence
of the troubles, but it is scarcely possible to imagine that the Nation will not, when the violence
of it's resentment begins to subside, be desirous of seeing these august Personages reinstated
in their respective situations of dignity, especially too upon the motive of policy, when it is
considered what immense sums of money will be thrown into the hands of Foreigners, during
their absence from this Kingdom.”

Detailed Interpretation of Primary Source

The author of this source implicates that the royals of the House of Bourbon have fled due to the
events that had unfolded at Bastille. The British believed the royals would come out on top and
eventually come back to their original positions, after the revolution due to the incorrect
management by the people who attempted to govern France. The core reason being their
alleviation of taxation on the third estate. This hypothesis was proven to be somewhat correct
with the course of history, in that only the reason was wrong.
How did it affect the daily lives of the French People (Parisian People, screw everyone
else)

It is evidenced by the line “No less than seven Princes of the House of Bourbon and one
Princess have fled in consequence of the troubles”. This implies that the royals have begun to
flee due to the storming of the Bastille. This means for such an act to occur, the public must be
armed and with a large number of people. But what could’ve generated such a strong, unifying
motive? Upon recalling on the reasons for the french revolution, it was likely that the Paris mob,
hungry due to a lack of food from poor harvests, were upset at the conditions of their lives and
annoyed with their King and Government.

Secondary Source

The châteaux have been demolished, the large farms devastated and the upkeep of the main
roads left to the communes, which are crushed by taxes. In the towns you see only insolent or
evil people. You are spoken to only in a tone that is brusque, demanding or defiant. Every face
has a sinister look; even children have a hostile, depraved demeanor. One would say that there
is hatred in every heart. Envy has not been satisfied, and misery is everywhere. That is the
punishment for making a revolution.

Interpretation of the source

The source is really quite compact, in old English and hard to read. The source begins by
stating that the châteaux has been demolished, a châteaux is the residence for the local lord
(lords owned the land of the specified place). This signifies that the lords of France have been
hunted down, which led to them either fleeing or being executed. The large farms being
devastated refers to the breakup of large estates/large farms as they were not owned by the
church or the nobility anymore due to the reign of terror (mass execution of members affiliated
with the first and second estate). The upkeep of the main roads being left to the community to
the communes was likely true, but there is no evidence to support that they were neglected from
the following sentence which describes the communes as overtaxed. In actuality, it is known the
entirety of the harvest taxes were alleviated with little taxation remaining. The author describes
residents of the town with vile faces, but from this standpoint, the author is very clearly
pro-nobility and part of the social elite.
How did it affect the daily lives of People ( French Revolution in Question )

The French revolution hasn’t really changed much in terms of the life of people in France, the
people remain hungry, starving, insolent and even to the point of “evil”. This is completely
untrue, as after the revolution, the entirety of the harvest tax was removed and farmers could
feed themselves with their own land. People of the third estate no longer found themselves
powerless, rather it was the first and second estate that were being hunted down. But it was
only the elite of the third estate that possessed power. The peasants still had to look after their
towns after the division of land between the peasants.