Friday, December 12, 2008

French Revolution Blog #5 Due by Dec. 30 (revised)

Question: Analyze the long-term and short-term causes of the French revolution. The Video below is the same video that we saw in class so it can be used to assist you. (Note: 4 different French Revolution Links are connected to this blog. Use them as a resource. Be sure to analyze the causes, do not just list them like a laundry list.) (Remember to respond to the question in 6-8 sentences (yes it can be longer) and to respond to two of your classmates answers in 4-6 sentences. Do not just agree or disagree without defending or justifying your argument.) Think above and beyond the common answers that you may see. Be sure to challenge your classmates with controversial tactics, actions or selections. Good Luck!!!! Go Mustangs!!!

17 comments:

KristaRae. said...

The long-term causes of the french revolution were economic problems like how the middle class was favored over the lower classes also monopolies were prohibited. Also the new enlightenment ideas were effecting the church because people were now being told to learn how to think for themselves instead of just the church. The short-term causes of the french revolution were th social classes the lower classes and many women thought they had no equal rights so they decided to form a new government the national assembly. There were many distructions of homes ad towns by the peasants fighting for their rights and wanted grain to be cheaper.

VZuniga said...

Both long and short term causes came from the french revolution. Along term cause was with economic issues involving the division of classes. Out of the three estates, the third estate got most of the taxes and they were the poorest people. The third estate included the middle and lower classes along with peasants. These were the people that could not afford to pay any more taxes. There was a short term social effect, and it was women's rights. Women had felt that they were not receiving fair treatment or equal rights, which was true, so they began to fight for it. Olympe de Gouges created the Declaration of the Rights of Woman. Most of this document had just been the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen with the word "woman" added into it, but it was a step towards women's rights.

AkilahRA said...

There were both long term and short term causes that contributed to the French Revolution. One long term cause was the ideas of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment brought about new ways of thinking such as the use of scientific reasoning, instead of relying on only faith for answers. Therefore, the French expected more from the government and eventually led to the French Revolution. Another long term cause was the formation of the first, second and third estate. Mainly, the third estate played a big factor in the cause of the French Revolution. The third estate was made up of everyone but the clergy and nobility, so they got together determined to change government ways. They met at an indoor Tennis Court and took the Tennis Court Oath, declaring not to leave until they had written France a constitution. There were also short term causes of the French Revolution, including the bad financial condition of the government because of their spending of money on weapons and soldiers during the seven years war. So there was debt in the government and many were forced to pay high taxes. France also was not too steady economically. Food prices increased and many faced very small incomes.

In response to KristaRae...
You mentioned very good reasons of why the French Revolution was caused though you did not elaborate very much on those reasons. What kind of destructions were the peasants creating? I know that during the Great Fear of 1789 peasants destroyed feudal obligations. Also in addition to just peasants there were other movements such as the Storming of the Bastille, and the March to Versailles. Also what kind of new enlightment ideas had an effect for the people to think that way? The new use of reason and logic caused people to rely on evidence instead of just faith alone.

In response to Takeyoudown93...
I agree with the long term cause that you mentioned. The third estate did have it hard because they could not afford much taxes and struggled. You also brought up a very good point on the women. They did not have very much rights and actually wanted to do something about it, the women were responsible for the March to Versailles.

ChrisdeBelen said...

Long-term causes of the French Rev. were mainly an economic failure during the time afterward the Rev. The "social classes" that were mainly affected by the economic problems were the lower class because they were still kinda/sorta being taxed still. Monopolies became banned... so companies such as DEIco. and the BEIco. were demolished. As there were long term causes there were also many short-term... for example: creation of the NA, CPS, and etc... they were only placed in power only if they weren't "loosing". The French Rev., was caused by certain classes becoming unhappy with current conditions and unhappy with the government. The effects of the Rev was that a new government was established.


Response to Takeyoudown93,
-you did a good job in stating the facts and all... but i think it could have been better if you stated how it affected the peasants and women in depth... i believe that the reasons you gave were sort of just generalizations.
yeah.

Brittany said...

Some short term causes of the French Revolutuion was that the monarchs lost power, which could also be said to have a long term effect as well. another long and short term effect was that the live of orrdinary people improved in that they wernt the only group in socciety who payed taxes. another affect was the right to choose your own religion, this oppened up to jews, who could now practise there beliefs freely. Two long term effects were the economy and the enlightenment. because Luis the 16 had pushed france into a huge economic hole, it wouldnt be an easy recovery for france. so the new goverment had to work hard to imrpove their situation. they did this by taxing nobles and the clergy, along with the ordinary people. another act the National ass. made was they took the land which belonged to the RCC and sold it, however they wouldnt see results till latter. the Enlightenment was always i controversy with the Cathloic church because most scientists taute that one should base his beliefs on reason rather than faith. latter the enlightenment and its beliefs/ discoveries "came out" and technology ect. became open to the people.

Brittany said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

The French revolution, like any other revolution, had several things that led up it, it didn’t just happen. Some of the causes were the growing population taking a liking to the ideas of an individual having equality and freedom, mainly brought about by philosophes of the Enlightenment. Many liked the Enlightenment ideas about governmental organization and wanted that as well. However, I believe the taxation problem was one of the bigger causes. France was in huge debt due to many causes and taxes were set to regain financial stability, and the lower classes were unfairly taxed way more than nobles. Since France had these issues and many more between the residence and the people of authority, change was bound to happen.

In Response to
AkilahRA
I think you made some great points. Especially concerning the enlightenment. You explained that better than me. Then your points on the tennis court oath helped support you too. Well done,

Takeyoudown93
You made some great points as well. the third estate did get most of the taxes, and they did want change, so they tried to achieve it through the revolution. Your point made about the women, is also a good one. I completely forgot about that, and its well stated.

Amelia Parra said...

Both long and short terms causes are to balme for the French Revolution. One long term cause was the thoughts from the Enlightenment. Because of the Enlightenment people began to rely more on the government instead of their faith in the church. Therefore the people expected more from them. A short term cause was that the government began to tax the lowest class possible for mney gain during their time of debt. The debt was caused due to the Seven Years' war. This was a major problem because they were taxing the people whom had no money to spend. This sooned changed by all the social classes being taxed. Another affect was that not only prices in food but also in rent were rising. Soon people began to lose their jobs on the fact that budgets were cut. This caused even worse fincial conditions and lead the economy into a depression.

In Response to
KristaRae
I liked how you mentioned many reasons for the causes of the Revolution. However you also mentioned that the women formed a "new government".... would you be able to ellaborate more on that?

ChrisDeBelen
I loved your response because of your details. Some of them i habe never heard of when spoken of this topic like the companies DELco and BELco. Could you explain what these companies did and why they were banned?

Cherries said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cherries said...

The French revolution had some long term causes and short term causes. Some long term causes would be the inbalance of the estates taxes. the lower class would pay virtually all the taxes while the upper classes would collect the revenue and remain the same. It is just like the richer gets richer and the poorer gets poorer basis of many of the world's failing economies. Many of the lower classes started feeling richer in power and felt that,"Shoot, I'm paying YOUR taxes so you doggone better listen to me." Another long term cause would be the Enlightenment which brought aboout many new scientific ideals and idealogies which made people more educated and subject to question the welfare of their economy and their religion. Crashing ideals came across and soon enough the quest for the best form of ruling economic wise and religious wise was highly dominant in the souls of the French citizens. Short term causes were the formation of groups such as the National Assembly which made known the grievances of the lower class. Seemingly successful, the National assembly was aided by many miniature "peace keeping" groups which would emphasize the troubles and start the reign of terror. Revolts broke out which were short term because everybody would die and people would be soon showing the monarchs and government their two cents and making sure the country got better real soon. These, hopefully, were the start of a revolution that would shape European history as we know it.

Whoowee!

In response to Takeyoudown93:
I love how you mentioned women's rights which although i didn't mention in mine was a key cause to the revolution. Women were treated as second class citizens and as the hunger of change grew, so did the boldness of women right's movements such as the Olympe de Gouges. Good supporting fact. Bravissimo.

in response to AkilahRA:
Girl, I like how you truly analyzed the long term causes and the short term causes of the revolution. Analyze means to break it apart and see the factors sort of like pieces to a puzzle. That was what you did rather than list them like a laundry list with no sufficient supporting information. But you did it well and that was goood. Bravissima.

stephie_ruiz said...

The cause of the revolution was mostly because of tension and unrest among the 3rd estate. the social organization that existed in France was so outdated, and it favored the nobles and the clergy by granting them exemptions to taxes and granting special privileges, thus causing envy, jealousy, and mainly anger in the 3rd estate. Another problem was the lack of leadership from the king. The monarchy as well as the nobility did not act in response to the unrest in the 3rd estate for the burdening of taxes, while the monarchy/govt and nobility made no sacrifice and instead heavily raised taxes to the 3rd estate. The financial crisis contributed a lot to the cause of the revolution because it caused a lot of problems in the 3rd estate which included: sky-rocketed prices of essential foods, shortages of those essential foods, and also loss of jobs. This was also caused by a depression that was occurring at the time in europe, (which was widespread). The loss of New France (Louisiana territory) caused France to lose some funds (trading posts, fur trade, etc). France also overwhelmed itself ny aiding the Americans in the American Revolution. The Enlightenment also contributed to the French Revolution. It brought about new ideas, especially about indivudual liberties and popular sovereighnty, thus bringing about the idea that people had the right to chose how to be governed, while also enforcing the idea that people had and deserved rights, thus holding some power over his/herself.


KRISTARAE:
I agree with your statement, but i think you could elaborate more. There are several more important causes to the French Revolution. I also thought your statements were not in-depth. I also think that the social conflicts go way more beyond women demanding more rights. Destruction of homes and buildings was not a cause, but an immediate effect of the Revolution. your statements seems a little vague.

TAKEYOUDOWN93:

I also think you should discuss other causes of the revolution. The causes go beyond the social conflicts in France. I think that the real issue was the lack of leadership and huge economic depression. If the monarchy (Louis) had taken action to keep the 3rd estate content, perhaps the revolution could have never happened. i think the lack of leadership was a huge problem. The monarchy did not make any sacrifices to take some of the burdens of the debt, and merely added it to overwhelmed 3rd estate. The lack of leadership was a huge cause to the revolution.

KristaRae. said...

In response to Takeyoudown93
I agree that there were many economic issues dealing with the three estates. With the lower class having to pay a majority of the taxes when they couldn't afford it at all. I liked how you mentioned that the women fought for their rights and the Declaration of the Rights of Women was made.

In response to Brittany
You explained your reason well. Also I liked how you mentioned the enlightenment as a cause and the problems of the social classes.

HiLLKiDD said...

I did these blogs but in the section of last years students.

A J Villamil said...

some long term effects of the French revolution was the that it resulted in monarchs all over europe losing power, it finally brought people o the forefront of politics, it was set as a model for later rvolutions, and it changed the political map of europe forever. There is also the fact that social classes weren't a big thing anymore and how you were treated went on to be judged by something else and that people were able to have their own religion of choice, even if this was still a major cause of conflict. A whole country didn't have to have the same religion just cuz their ruler wanted them to be catholic, or jewish, and etc. considering the economy,the debt would forever b a burden, but france had learned to dal with it. taxation was made for everyone, and not just what was considered the third estate. and the third estate might have made the biggest impact on this revolution that changed france forever. This third estate wasnt biased like the clergy or the nobility because they were living the worst of it all. They werent selfish creeps only out to save their luxurious lives, they wanted what was best for everyone so everyone, even they could live an average life. Of course to the nobility, an "average life" was unheard of andthe closest thing to hell, being so ignorant. Anyway, the third estate rebelling and formin the national assembly which was later on known as the lgislative asembly set up a government, though unstable, that inspired people to fight for what was the good for all, no matter how violent and bloody the fight would turn out to be. monarchs across europ lost powerLast, the Enlightenment promoted the use ofscientific reasoning to solve problems instead of just faith alone. The biggest enlightnment idea used was that ordinary people should be free to elect the leaders of their government. Thi went against th belief of the divine right of kings in which only certain families were allowed to rule because they were the closet thing t god in this world (which is so not true). This ended stupid scapegoats for things that people didn't understand but soon would with the use of science, like witches.

A J Villamil said...

response to kristarae:
i agree that there were many changes caus by this revolution and i agree with you that the enlightenmnt ideas that also inspired the US constitution was a major problm to the clergy. It made sense and the third estate likd this concept and took it t their advantag because of the fact that they werent thinking by faith alone anymor. when all they knew was faith in god, which is not a bad thing, the clergy took that faith and took advantage of their roles as being "holy" people by taking advantage of the believrs. now, as th people start to think and prove things scientifically, people start to think for themselves and ruin something that has been in power for centuries.

A J Villamil said...

response to takeyoudown93:
i agree with you on what you said about women's rights. i actually forgot about that while writing my statement. they might not have made a major impact but the fact that the women actually fought as a whole, and probably the biggest womens group seen so far instead of individuals her and there, was a major thing.

tmarthegr8 said...

Both long term and short term causes contributed to the French Revolution. Some long term causes where Frances financial crisis and the "old regime" system. Some short term causes were the new way of thinking brought by the enlightenment and the tax burden that was being placed on the peasants.