Name: Per: Case Study Due: / /

REVOLUTION CASE STUDY:

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IDEAS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT

KEY QUESTIONS:
▪How did the ideas of the Enlightenment break with existing traditions?

▪How did the ideas of the Enlightenment impact society (politics, economics,
religion, etc)?

▪What factors contributed to starting the French Revolution?

▪What methods were used by revolutionaries to establish enlightenment reforms?

▪In what ways did the French Revolution overturn the balance of power that
had existed in Europe?

▪Were the French people better off with Louis XVI or Napoleon I?

▪DID THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FULFILL OR BETRAY THE IDEAS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT
 PART 1: THE OLD REGIME

The most influential nobles were

encouraged, and even commanded, to
leave their castles in the country, where
life at best was dull, and to come and live
with the king at Versailles.
Here the king provided amusements
for them, and here he could keep his eye
on them. The nobles could not well be
discourteous or disobedient to the king
while they lived in his house and ate at his
table. Almost without knowing it, Louis’s
noble guests fell into the habit of trying to
please him. The king’s manners were
imitated, his words repeated. All smiled
when the king smiled, all were sad when
the king was sad, “all were devout when
the king was devout, and all were sorry
not to be ill when the king was ill.” If a
noble at court displeased the king, he was
sent back to the country to live in his own
house, in which case everyone felt—and
he did too—that he was in deep disgrace.…

Carl L. Becker, Modern History, Silver, Burdett

and Company

THE THREE ESTATES OF FRANCE

FIRST ESTATE SECOND ESTATE THIRD ESTATE

The clergy made up the First Estate. The nobles made up the This group consisted
They included archbishops, bishops, Second Estate. They were of everyone else in
abbots, parish priests, monks, and nuns. nobles by birth, and were France. Some of the
The leaders of the clergy, such as landowners. Most of them had bourgeoisie [middle-class]
bishops, were wealthy and lived like wealth and some power. In such as merchants, bankers,
nobles. They tended to support Louis some parts of the country, and doctors, were quite
because of the privileges that they had. though, the nobles were not wealthy but paid high taxes
They paid no taxes. particularly rich. and had few rights. The
The rest of the clergy – priests, for Although most nobles were peasants and the town
example wealthy, they did not pay taxes workers paid heavy taxes.
– were no better off than the ordinary either. Some nobles thought Many were poor, and no one in
people who lived with them in the villages, that the King and his ministers this estate had any say in how
except that they paid no taxes either. were running the country the
poorly. country was governed.
 THE KINGSHIP OF LOUIS XIV
Directions: Read the question for each document before reading the excerpt. Then, read and annotate the document. Finally,
respond to the questions that follow in complete sentences using evidence from the text and your own analysis.

An excerpt from a letter written by Louis XIV to his son, who would later be crowned Louis XV, 1666.

Without any doubt, two things were absolutely necessary for ruling: very hard work on my
part, and a wise choice of persons who were capable of carrying out my work. I set a rule for
myself to work regularly twice each day for two or three hours at a time.
A king must be guided by his own good sense, which is natural and effortless. A king,
however skillful and enlightened his ministers are, is the principal cause of good work being done.
He cannot act without seeing his effect on the state. There is no satisfaction equal to that of noting
some progress you have made in glorious and lofty enterprises and in the happiness of your
people which comes from the work you have done yourself.
My son, the work of a king is agreeable. One must have his eyes open to the whole earth. He
must endeavor to learn each hour the news concerning every province and every nation, the
secrets of every court, the moods and weaknesses of every prince and every foreign minister. He
must be well informed on all matters from commerce and science to art and philosophy. He must
find out the secrets of his subjects, and discover the selfish interests of those who approach him
with their real motives disguised. I know of no other pleasure I would take in place of the work of a
king.
1. What were Louis XIV’s most important characteristics as he saw them?

Very hard work on his part and a wise choice of persons who were capable of carrying his work

An excerpt from the memoirs of the Duke of Saint-Simon, first published in English in 1857.
The Duc de Saint-Simon was a member of one of the most prominent noble families of France. His memoirs record the
manners and customs of Louis XIV’s court and life at Versailles in vivid detail.

Louis XIV made for a brilliant court. His figure, his grace, his beauty, his grand bearing, even
the tone of his voice and his majestic and natural charm set him apart from other men as the king.
Even if he had been born a simple private gentleman, he still would have excelled in all social
festivities. However, intrigues against the king during his childhood made Louis suspicious of
intelligent, educated, noble, and highly principled men, and as he advanced in years, he began to
hate them. He wished to reign by himself, and his jealousy on this point soon became a weakness.
The superior ability of his early ministers and generals soon wearied him. He liked no one to be in
any way superior to him. He chose his ministers, therefore, not for their knowledge, but for their
ignorance; not for their capacity, but for their want of it. He liked to teach them even the most
trivial things. He unceasingly concerned himself with the smallest details of his troops, his minor
household officials, and the way his mansions were built and maintained. He would even instruct
his cooks, though he taught them things they had known for years.

2. What evidence does St. Simon provide that contradicts Louis’ claims?
Narrative evidence that Louis loathed anyone being superior to him in any sense, because of that; he himself picked
who would work for or beside him. He typically choose people with no experience so they can’t be superior to him
 PART 2: ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS
Directions: Read the question for each document before reading the excerpt. Then, read and annotate the document. Finally,
respond to the questions that follow in complete sentences using evidence from the text and your own analysis.

John Locke, Second Treatise on Civil Government, 1690

These are the bounds which […] society, and the law of God and Nature, have set…
First, they are to govern by […] established laws, not to be varied in particular cases,
but to have one rule for the rich and poor…
Secondly, these laws ought to be designed for no other end […] but the good of the
people.
Whenever the legislators [lawmakers] endeavor to take away and destroy the property
of the people, […] they put themselves in a state of war with the people.
1. How does Locke believe that people should be treated by their government?
With equality. Each set of rules should apply to all people, no matter how rich or poor or vice versa

2. Why do laws exist, according to Locke?

For the good of the people.

Jean Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract, 1763

The social contract's terms, when they are well understood, can be reduced to a
single requirement: the individual member [gives] himself totally to the whole
community with all of his rights. This is first because conditions will be the same for
everyone when each individual gives himself totally, and secondly, because no one will
be tempted to make that condition of shared equality worse for other men....
Once [the people are] united this way into a body, an offense against one of its
members is an offense against the body politic*. It would be even less possible to
injure the body without its members feeling it.
*the body politic, n. – everyone in society, when
taken together as one whole group
3. According to Rousseau, when individuals agree to the social contract, what happens to their rights?

He gives it to the community, where everyone’s rights are respected

4. Do you believe that the structure of Rousseau’s society will benefit people overall? Provide a
specific example of why or why not.
Yes. If someone were to unjustly offend or assault anyone in the society, everyone will be there to help.
 PART 4: CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Directions: Examine the political cartoon below and indicate objects and figures that you recognize. Then annotate them in
order to describe the relationship between the figures presented.

Political Cartoon #1
“A Criticism of the Order of Society”, Unknown Artist, from the second half of the 18th century

First Estate (Clergy)

Second Estate (Nobility)

Third Estate
(Commoners)
Population Land Ownership Government Taxation

1. Based on the information in the political cartoon and the charts above, what type of problems exist
in French society that could potentially cause a revolution?
Despite the clergy and nobility being a trace percent of the French population, they owned significant land as
opposed to the commoners. Furthermore, only the commoners were taxed. The clergy and nobility were apparently
above it, which could lead to tension and a revolution led by the commoners.