The French Revolution was a political movement devoted to the people, more specifically, the common people. The motto of the Revolution was "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," meaning freedom, equals, and alliance. Although the Revolution was thought to be a bloody tragedy by some, the majority of the people around the world saw the Revolution as much more. The French Revolution, on a technical level, took place between the years of 1789 and 1799.1 It began with the storming of the Bastille, but tensions were mounting long before that. However, the taking of the Bastille was a significant symbol in France and the world as a whole, for it symbolized what can be done when the people take the power into their own hands.

The growing economic and social importance of the bourgeoisie, the middle class of France, was usually described as the cause of the Revolution. It was believed that the bourgeoisie overthrew the Old Regime because the regime had given power and privilege to the other classes such as the nobility and clergy, who prevented the bourgeoisie from advancing socially and politically. Economic recession in the 1770s frustrated the bourgeoisie in their rise to pow

Prices in the marketplace had gone up 62%, yet wages were up only 22%. The price of bread took half of wages, vegetables 16%, clothes 15%. lighting 1%. In Paris at the time, a million loaves of bread a day were needed. There were three different kinds of bread: white (for the wealthy), which were bought by the loaf, brown-white and brown, which were purchased by weight. Many Parisians were destitute in the pre-Revolution.2

Parlement protests blended in with the other parties, especially an intellectual group known as the philosophes. Like those who supported the Parlements, the philosophes did not advocate violence. They claimed to speak on behalf of the public, arguing that people had certain natural, civil and legal rights and the purpose of governments are to guarantee these rights. In pamphlets and treatises, which were illegally printed and handed out, they openly ridiculed the Old Regime's inefficiencies and its abuses of power.3

During the 18th century, criticism of the French monarchy also came from people who worked for the Old Regime. Some of the king's own ministers criticized past practices and proposed new reforms, but the Parlements, (13 regional royal courts led by Parlement of Paris) were the more influential party. The Parlements had the power to register royal decrees, and all decrees had to be registered by the Parlements before becoming an official law. In this way, the Parlements frequently protested royal initiatives that they believed to threaten the traditional rights and liberties of the common people. The Parlements published many works with the image of a historically free France and denounced the absolute rule of the crown that in their view, threatened traditional liberties by imposing religious orthodoxy and new taxes.2

During the early months of 1789, the three estates prepared for the meeting by selecting deputies and drawing up "lists of grievances". These lists reflected overwhelming agreement in favor of limiting the power of the king and his administrators. When the meeting took place, the monarchy proposed no plan for debate and left the voting issue unsettled. As a result, the estates spent their time arguing about voting procedure, getting little done. On June 23, 1789, Louis XVI proposed an overhaul of the financial system, and other important reforms. But he refused to recognize the National Assembly, which fueled more tension.4

Right away, contention arose regarding voting processes in the Estates General. In its last meeting, voting had been organized by estate, with each of the three estates meeting separately and each having one vote. In this way the privileged classes had combined to outvote the third estate, which made up more than 90 percent of the population. The Parlement of Paris voted to keep

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Approximate Word count = 1882
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)