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Julia Camp

Justin Gadsden

History

4 March 2016

The French Revolution- A Failure

Looking back on history, you can tell whether an event was successful or not, due to its

goals. The French Revolution is one of these events. The goals were to have a new constitution,

everyone be equal, and get rid of the monarchy. Yet...the impressive list of achievements must

be balanced against the actual accomplishments.

The people of the France desperately needed a new constitution. The king, Louis XVI,

was taxing only the 3rd estate; since he was an absolute monarch, he could do whatever he

wanted to. The 3rd estate wanted no taxing, but they were outnumbered in the voting. They

revolted and formed the National Assembly. The took an oath (the Tennis Court Oath) to make

a new constitution. Politically, constitutionalism had been accepted, but the constitution of 1799

was a farce; declarations of rights had been made three times, but each time they had been more

form than substance, and in 1799 they were omitted entirely; democracy had never been really

tried. This quote talks about how the National Assembly tried to write a constitution, but it

never worked out. This was one of the goals, and The French Revolution so far was not

successful.

The king, Louis XVI, was unfair to the third estate. He taxed the people 50% of their

income and started to get starved and poor. While the first and second estate were both exempt

from paying taxes. Louis XVI called an emergency meeting with the estates. The third estate was

97% of the French population, the second was 2%, and the first was 1% of the population (From
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Mr. Gadsdens Notes). Each estate got one vote even though the third estate had way more

people. The third estate voted to lower taxes and tax everyone. The first and second estate voted

to raise the taxes on third estate. Since the third estate was outnumbered, they could not do

anything. They started fighting for equality, hence the French Revolution.

For ages the have had a monarchy, and it has never worked out for them. The king either

always went corrupt or is just a bad ruler. Since they have an absolute monarchy, no one can stop

the king (except on occasions, which people would usually risk their lives). Louis XVI would be

an example. The people of France were crying out to him so he could help with the starvation

and finance situations. He just ignored them; eventually the people got tired of Louis XVI, so

they revolted. And the fiscal and financial situation left by the Directory was worse than that

facing the Estates General -stability was lacking. This was all because of Louis XVI! He did not

pay any attention to them, so they are struggling while he is throwing parties and his wife is

buying dresses with expensive hairdos! France needed a new government. They did it

successfully...for a while. Once the French Revolution, Napoleon took over and fought wars. He

basically turned into another dictator.

All in all, the French Revolution was a bust. All of the things the French tried to

accomplish just did not work. Many lives were lost and it was not even worth it, in the end. That

is a shame.
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Works Cited

Was the French Revoluion a Success or a Failure?

Mr. Gadsdens Notes