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THE ENLIGHTENMENT |
Western Civilization II page. |
- THE "AGE OF REASON" IS SAID TO BE THE ERA BETWEEN 1648 AND 1815.
- IT WAS BROUGHT ON BY THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION (1500-1700), WHICH GAVE BIRTH TO THE SPIRIT OF INQUIRY, REASONING, AND THE CRITICAL (SCIENTIFIC) METHOD OF ARRIVING AT THE TRUTH. THE 18TH CENTURY WAS A TIME WHEN THE IMPACT OF SCIENCE AND THE GROWTH OF RELIGIOUS SKEPTICISM BECAME VERY PRONOUNCED. NATURAL HISTORY, WITH ITS EMPHASIS ON THE SCIENCE OF THE EARTH'S DEVELOPMENT (A COMBINATION OF GEOLOGY, ZOOLOGY, AND BOTANY) WAS HEAVILY EMPHASIZED.
- THE SCIENTISTS WHO HELPED TO REVOLUTIONIZE MEN'S THINKING WERE:
COPERNICUS (1473-1543) - WHO DISCOVERED THE SUN WAS THE CENTER OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. HE THUS ROBBED MAN OF HIS TRADITIONAL PLACE AT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE. HE WAS CONDEMNED BY THE INQUISITION AFTER HIS DEATH.
KEPLER (1571-1630) - FORMULATED THE THREE LAWS OF PLANETARY MOTION.
GALILEO (1564-1642) - CONSTRUCTED THE FIRST TELESCOPE AND CONFIRMED COPERNICUS' THEORY FOR WHICH HE HAD TO RECANT BEFORE THE INQUISITION.
FRANCIS BACON (1561-1626) - ADVOCATED THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF REASONING (INDUCTIVE). IT CALLED FOR OBSERVATION, MEASUREMENT, EXPERIMENTATION, HYPOTHESIS, AND VERIFICATION.
RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650) - APPLIED MATHEMATICAL METHODS TO EXPLAIN THE MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE.
WILLIAM HARVEY (1578-1657) - DEVELOPED THE THEORY OF THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.
ROBERT BOYLE (1627-1691) - THE "FATHER OF THE MODERN CHEMISTRY" FORMULATED LAWS FOR GASES.
ISAAC NEWTON (1642-1727) - THE MOST RENOWNED SCIENTIST OF THE AGE, DEVELOPED THE NEWTONIAN SYSTEM OF UNIVERSE WHERE NATURAL LAW MAINTAINED ORDER. DISCOVERED THE THEORY OF GRAVITY AND THE THREE LAWS OF MOTION.
JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704) - ADVOCATED BELIEF IN EMPIRICISM - THAT SENSORY EXPERIENCE IS THE ONLY TRUE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE. IN POLITICAL MATTERS, HE ADVOCATED THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD EXIST BY CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED: THAT EDUCATION SHOULD BE MORE WIDESPREAD: AND THAT THERE SHOULD BE MORE RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.
- SCIENCE ITSELF HAD BECOME FOR WESTERN EUROPE THE ACCEPTED WAY FOR CIVILIZATION TO ADVANCE AND PERFECT ITSELF.
- THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION SET THE STAGE FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT.
- THE AGE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT WAS A PHASE WITHIN THE AGE OF REASON AND FOLLOWED THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION.
- IT IS GENERALLY USED TO DESCRIBE THE PERIOD OF TIME BETWEEN 1700 AND 1789.
- IT REFERS TO THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT WHICH STOOD FOR RATIONALIST, LIBERAL, HUMANITARIAN, AND SCIENTIFIC TRENDS OF THOUGHT. THE EROSION OF RELIGION AS THE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY IS THE HALLMARK OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT. THE VIEWPOINT THIS ENGENDERED WAS CALLED SECULARISM.
- THE IDEAS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT WERE DISCUSSED IN THE FASHIONABLE SALONS IN FRANCE AND IN THE COFFEEHOUSES IN ENGLAND.
- THE IDEAS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT HELPED TO BRING ABOUT THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, INFLUENCED THE POLITICAL THEORY AND PRACTICES OF WESTERN EUROPE AND THE U.S., AND LED TO THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE IN MANY COUNTRIES. SECULARISM URGED THAT PEOPLE SHOULD PRACTICE ANY RELIGION THEY WANTED OR NONE AT ALL.
- AT THE CENTER OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT WAS FRANCE, AND ITS LEADING THINKERS WERE CALLED THE PHILOSOPHES. THESE WERE THE FRENCH INTELLECTUALS THAT MADE SCIENCE AND SECULARISM KEY POINTS OF THEIR BELIEFS. THEY SHARED A CRITICAL SPIRIT THAT DESIRED TO RE-EXAMINE THE ASSUMPTIONS
AND INSTITUTIONS OF SOCIETY AND TO EXPOSE THEM TO THE TESTS OF REASON, EXPERIENCE, AND UTILITY. BY ASSERTING THAT REASON WAS THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING, THEY WERE TURNING AWAY FROM FAITH, WHICH WAS THE ESSENCE OF RELIGION.
BECAUSE OF THEIR ICONOCLASTIC STAND, THEIR WRITINGS WERE OFTEN BANNED, AND THEY WERE FORCED INTO EXILE OR SPENT TIME IN JAIL.
- IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT WHILE THE PHILOSOPHES ATTACKED TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND INSTITUTIONS, MOST OF THEM WOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED REVOLUTIONARIES. THEY TOO GENERALLY FEARED THE UNEDUCATED MASSES. ADDITIONALLY, MOST DID NOT OBJECT TO THE ELITE RULING BUT WISHED ONLY THAT THE ELITE BE MORE ENLIGHTENED.
- FRANCE'S LEADING PHILOSOPHES ARE CONSIDERED TO BE MONTESQUIEU, VOLTAIRE, ROUSSEAU, AND DIDEROT.
- MONTESQUIEU'S (1689-1755) GREATEST WORK, THE SPIRIT OF LAWS, UNDERSCORED TWO BASIC IDEAS:
- THE BEST TYPE OF GOVERNMENT VARIES FOR DIFFERENT COUNTRIES BECAUSE OF CLIMATE AND GEOGRAPHY.
- IN A GOVERNMENT, POWER SHOULD BE DIVIDED AMONG THE LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE, AND JUDICIAL BODIES. IT WAS THE THEORY OF THE SEPARATION OF POWERS.
- HE WAS STRONGLY OPPOSED TO THE ABSOLUTISM OF LOUIS XVI.
- VOLTAIRE (1694-1778) WAS MORE INTERESTED IN FREEDOM OF THOUGHT THAN POLITICAL FREEDOM. HE BECAME THE MOST VIGOROUS ANTI-RELIGIOUS ADVOCATE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT.
- HIS CHIEF OBJECT OF ATTACK WAS THE CHURCH, AND HIS MOTTO WAS "CRUSH THE INFAMOUS THING."
- HE BELIEVED THAT THE CHURCH WAS THE CENTER FOR BIGOTRY, INTOLERANCE, AND SUPERSTITION. HE PUBLISHED HIS MASTERPIECE, PHILOSOPHICAL DICTIONARY, WHICH BITTERLY ATTACKED CHRISTIANITY.
- HE ATTACKED THE WHOLE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF THE WORLD AND ITS BASIS FOR RIGHT AND WRONG.
- HE ARGUED FOR A SECULAR RELIGION BASED ON NATURE AND FOR A NATURAL MORALITY. NATURAL LAWS WOULD GOVERN POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL LIFE.
- MAN AND HIS SOCIETY WOULD REACH PERFECTION IF HE WOULD ALLOW HIS REASON TO DISCOVER THESE NATURAL LAWS.
- VOLTAIRE ADMIRED ABSOLUTE RULERS LIKE LOUIS XIV AND FREDERICK THE GREAT OF PRUSSIA.
- ROUSSEAU (1712-1778) BELIEVED THAT IN SOCIETY, AS IT EXISTED, A GOOD PERSON COULD NOT BE HAPPY.
- HE SAID THAT "MAN IS BORN FREE; AND EVERYWHERE HE IS IN CHAINS."
- HE BELIEVED THAT MAN WAS NATURALLY GOOD BUT CORRUPTED BY CIVILIZATION. HE THOUGHT THAT LIFE IN A STATE OF NATURE WOULD BE THE MOST IDEAL.
- IN HIS GREATEST WORK, THE SOCIAL CONTRACT, HIS THEME WAS THE FOLLOWING:
GOVERNMENTS ARE A NECESSARY EVIL.
A GOVERNMENT WAS A SOCIAL CONTRACT, AND ALL OF ITS OFFICIALS WERE ONLY DELEGATES OF THE GENERAL WILL OF THE PEOPLE.
THE GENERAL WILL, WHICH IS A BLENDING OF THE INDIVIDUAL WILLS OF THE PEOPLE, IS THE TRUE SOVEREIGN POWER THAT IS ABSOLUTE.
- ROUSSEAU'S IDEAS MADE HIM THE PROPHET OF DEMOCRACY AND NATIONALISM.
- HE ADVOCATED A NEW RESPECT FOR THE COMMON MAN AND A LOVE OF COMMON THINGS, WHILE HE ATTACKED ARISTOCRATIC LIFE AS BEING SUPERFICIAL.
- AS A RESULT OF THE ABOVE, MANY OF THE UPPER CLASSES BEGAN TO LOSE FAITH IN THEIR OWN SUPERIORITY AND IN THEIR OWN LIFESTYLES.
- DIDEROT (1713-1784)
- HIS GREATEST WORK WAS THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF 28 VOLUMES, WHICH WAS THE GREATEST OVERALL REPRESENTATION OF THE BELIEFS OF THE PHILOSOPHES.
- IT COVERED MANY TOPICS WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON SCIENCE.
- LIKE OTHER BOOKS WRITTEN BY THE PHILOSOPHES, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA WAS BANNED IN FRANCE.
- THE PHILOSOPHES HAD THEIR COUNTERPARTS OUTSIDE OF FRANCE. A MAJOR BRANCH OF ENLIGHTENMENT SOCIAL SCIENCE WAS THE PHYSIOCRATIC SCHOOL.
- A KEY POINT OF THIS SCHOOL WAS THAT ECONOMIC PROGRESS DEPENDED ON MEETING AGRICULTURE AND TRADE FROM MERCANTILIST RESTRICTIONS.
- ADAM SMITH, IN BRITAIN, MADE AN ATTACK ON THE RESTRICTIONS OF MERCANTILISM IN HIS FAMOUS WORK THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. HE AND OTHERS WERE EARLY PROPONENTS OF "LAISSEZ FAIRE," I.E., LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE.
- SOME PHILOSOPHES BELIEVED IN THE RELIGIOUS CONCEPT OF DEISM.
- DEISM VIEWED GOD AS A "MASTER CLOCK-WINDER" OF THE UNIVERSE. HE WAS ITS CREATOR OR FIRST CAUSE OF EVERYTHING. HE SET THE UNIVERSE TO RUN BY NATURAL LAWS AND DOES NOT TAKE AN ACTIVE PART IN IT. HE DOES NOT INTERVENE IN HUMAN AFFAIRS, AND ALL PRAYER IS USELESS.
- SOME VERY IMPORTANT DEISTS WERE LOCKE, NEWTON, VOLTAIRE, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, AND THOMAS JEFFERSON.
THE CULTURE OF THE 18TH CENTURY
- OVERALL CULTURE IN THE 18TH CENTURY WAS DOMINATED BY FRANCE AND THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. LANGUAGE WAS NOT A BARRIER IN SHARING CULTURAL EXCHANGES.
- THE GREAT EXCHANGE OF CULTURE DURING THE 18TH CENTURY WAS PRIMARILY LIMITED TO THE EDUCATED.
- THE MASS OF EUROPE'S POPULATION REMAINED UNTOUCHED BY THESE DEVELOPMENTS.
- CULTURE EXCHANGE OCCURRED THROUGH:
- PRINTED WORD - JOURNALS AND NEWSPAPERS PROLIFERATED DURING THE 18TH CENTURY. ENGLAND WAS THE LEADING COUNTRY IN THIS AREA AT THIS TIME. EVEN THE LOWER CLASSES THAT COULD READ WERE BEING TARGETED AS AN AUDIENCE FOR LITERATURE WITH THREE VARIETIES OF POPULAR LITERATURE:
RELIGIOUS
ALMANACS
ENTERTAINMENT, E.G., TALES AND FABLES
- SALONS
- ACADAMIES - FOUNDED AFTER THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV AND BECAME WIDESPREAD IN MANY CITIES THROUGHOUT EUROPE. IN THEIR EARLY DAYS, MEMBERSHIP WAS LIMITED TO NOBLES BUT, LIKE THE SALONS, ATTENDANCE BY COMMONERS OCCURRED MORE FREQUENTLY IN THE LAST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY. A SOCIAL FUSION WAS TAKING PLACE BETWEEN THE ONCE RIGIDLY SEPARATED SOCIAL CLASSES.
LITERATURE - 18TH CENTURY
- IN THE FIELD OF LITERATURE, THE NOVEL ENJOYED ITS GREATEST DEVELOPMENT DURING THE 18TH CENTURY. IT ORIGINATED IN ENGLAND.
- IT BECAME A FORM OF FICTION WHICH TREATED THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY IN A REALISTIC SOCIAL CONTEXT.
- MUCH OF THE EMPHASIS WAS ON MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILY LIFE AND ITS PROBLEMS OF MORALITY, LOVE, AND SOCIAL RELATIONS.
- A GENRE CALLED THE PHILOSOPHICAL TALE WAS BEING PERFECTED DURING THIS TIME.
- IT WAS A FORM OF SATIRE WHICH CRITICIZED SOCIETY IN A SOMEWHAT COVERT MANNER.
- FRENCH PHILOSOPHES LIKED THIS FORM OF SATIRE.
- FAMOUS EXAMPLES OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL TALE INCLUDE SWIFT'S GULLIVER'S TRAVEL, MONTESQUIEU'S PERSIAN LETTERS, AND VOLTAIRE'S CANDIDE.
- THE MOST PRIZED FORM OF LITERARY EXPRESSION REMAINED POETRY, WHICH RETAINED ITS TRADITIONALISM AND WAS STILL AIMED PRIMARILY AT THE UPPER CLASSES.
- BY THE END OF THE 18TH CENTURY, POETS LIKE VON SCHILLER AND WORDSWORTH WERE INJECTING POETRY WITH MORE EMPHASIS INDIVIDUAL FEELINGS WHICH WOULD EVOLVE INTO ROMANTICISM.
ART/ARCHITECTURE - 18TH CENTURY
- UNLIKE FICTION AND MUSIC, PAINTING DID NOT EXPERIENCE NOTABLE INNOVATIONS IN THE 18TH CENTURY.
- NEOCLASSICISM WAS A DOMINANT STYLE OF THE LATE 18TH CENTURY.
- NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ART INCLUDED:
- PAINTING BECAME EXHIBITED REGULARLY IN PUBLIC, E.G., SALONS SPONSORED BY THE ROYAL ACADEMIES.
- COMMON PEOPLE BECAME A POPULAR SUBJECT FOR ARTISTS.
- FAMOUS ARTISTS LIKE GREUZE (FRANCE) AND HOGARTH PLACED HEAVY EMPHASIS ON MORE EMOTIONAL THEMES TIED INTO FAMILY SETTINGS AND SCENES AMONG THE POOR AND WORKING CLASSES.
- IN THE AREA OF ARCHITECTURE, THE NEOCLASSIC STYLE ON THE GREEK AND ROMAN MODELS REPLACED THE ROCOCO STYLE.
- SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN (BRITISH) AND THOMAS JEFFERSON WERE LEADING ARCHITECTS.
MUSIC - 18TH CENTURY
- THE RISE OF THE NOVEL IN LITERATURE WAS PARALLELED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYMPHONY IN MUSIC.
- MUSIC WAS BOUND BY VERY RIGID CONVENTION FOR MOST OF THE CENTURY.
- AUSTRIA WAS THE HEARTLAND OF EUROPE'S MUSIC TRADITION. THREE GENIUSES TRANSFORMED 18TH CENTURY COMPOSITION INTO ORIGINAL AND ENDURING MASTERPIECES:
HAYDN
MOZART
BEETHOVEN
- DEEP EMOTION ENTERED INTO MUSIC TOWARD THE END OF THE 18TH CENTURY.
- PUBLIC CONCERTS BECAME MORE POPULAR TOWARD THE END OF THE CENTURY.
- THE REALM OF MUSIC PRODUCED SOME OF ITS GREATEST ARTISTS.
- JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) - WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS ORGAN FUGUES OF A RELIGIOUS NATURE - THE ST. MATTHEW PASSION.
- GEORGE HANDEL (1685-1759) COMPOSED THE MESSIAH.
- FRANZ HAYDN (1732-1809) LED THE CITY OF VIENNA TO DOMINATE THE MUSIC WORLD WITH HIS SYMPHONY.
- WOLFGANG MOZART (1756-1791) - THE GREATEST MUSICAL FIGURE OF HIS TIME. HE WROTE OVER 600 MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS. HE WROTE A MINUET AT AGE 5, A SONATA AT 7, AND A SYMPHONY AT 8.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION - BACKGROUND
- IN FRENCH SOCIETY, EVERYONE BELONGED LEGALLY TO AN "ESTATE" OR "ORDER" OF SOCIETY. THESE CATEGORIES WERE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE INDIVIDUAL'S LEGAL RIGHTS AND PERSONAL PRESTIGE DEPENDED ON THE CATEGORY TO WHICH HE BELONGED.
- THE FIRST ESTATE: THE UPPER CLERGY OF CARDINALS, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND ABBOTS WERE ALSO MEMBERS OF THE WEALTHY NOBILITY.
- LIKE THE UPPER CLERGY IN MOST COUNTRIES, INCLUDING GREAT BRITAIN, THEY OFTEN PLAYED A ROLE IN GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS.
- TO SUPPORT ITS SOCIAL SERVICES, THE CHURCH LEVIED A TITHE (A 10% TAX ON A PERSON'S INCOME).
- A PROBLEM LAY IN THE FACT THAT THE INCOME FROM CHURCH PROPERTIES WAS DIVIDED VERY UNEQUALLY. IT RESTED IN THE HANDS OF THE ARISTOCRATIC UPPER CLERGY.
- THE GREAT MASS OF PARISH CLERGY WAS OF LOWER-CLASS ORIGIN.
- THE SECOND ESTATE WAS THE NOBILITY, MADE UP OF ABOUT 400,000 ARISTOCRATS.
- SINCE THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV IN 1715, THE POWER OF THE NOBLES WAS ONCE AGAIN ON THE RISE.
- THE INTENDANTS, WHO HAD BEEN MEMBERS OF THE BOURGEOISIE UNDER LOUIS XIV, WERE NOW USUALLY NOBLES.
- THE NOBLES BLOCKED ANY ATTEMPTS BY THE KING TO REFORM THE OLD REGIME.
- THIS CLASS WITH THEIR DETERMINATION TO END ABSOLUTISM HELPED TO BRING ON THE REVOLUTION.
- THE THIRD ESTATE WAS MADE UP OF EVERYONE ELSE BY THE TIME OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. FOUR DISTINCT GROUPS BELONGED TO IT:
- THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL LEADERS. THIS UPPER CRUST OF THE THIRD ESTATE HAD EXPERIENCED A FIVEFOLD INCREASE FROM THE TIME OF LOUIS XIV'S DEATH TO THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION. THEY WERE FAMILIAR WITH THE WORKS OF THE PHILOSOPHES AND VERY RESENTFUL OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE NOBILITY.
- BELOW THESE BUSINESS LEADERS WERE THE PETITE BOURGEOISIE, OR TRUE MIDDLE CLASS. THEY WERE MADE UP OF SHOPKEEPERS, CRAFTSMEN, AND PROFESSIONAL MEN.
- NEXT CAME THE URBAN WORKERS. THEY WERE SMALL IN NUMBER, POORLY PAID (AS IN ENGLAND), BUT WOULD PLAY A ROLE IN THE REVOLUTION BECAUSE THEY WERE CENTERED IN PARIS AND OTHER LARGE CITIES.
- THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE THIRD ESTATE WERE PEASANTS (ABOUT 4/5THS OF THE ENTIRE POPULATION). THESE PEASANTS, IN COMPARISON TO PEASANTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES, WERE FAIRLY WELL-OFF. FRENCH SOIL WAS FERTILE, AND MOST PEASANTS OWNED THEIR OWN LAND. THE PEASANTS WERE DEEPLY COMMITTED TO THEIR CATHOLIC FAITH.
- ANOTHER MAJOR REASON FOR THE COMING REVOLUTION WAS THE DECLINE OF COMPETENCY IN THE TWO FRENCH KINGS AFTER LOUIS XIV.
LOUIS XV (1715-1774) WAS ABLE BUT INDIFFERENT TO THE AFFAIRS OF GOVERNMENT.
- HE LEFT THE ACTUAL CONTROL OF STATE IN THE HANDS OF HIS TWO MISTRESSES, MADAME POMPADOUR AND MADAME DU BARRY.
- WITH THE GOVERNMENT TREASURY BANKRUPT FROM THE WARS OF LOUIS XIV, LOUIS XV BORROWED MONEY HEAVILY, CAUSING MORE DEBT.
- REALIZING THE DRIFT TOWARDS DISASTER, LOUIX XV REMARKED "APRES MOI, LE DELUGE!" (AFTER ME, THE DELUGE).
LOUIS XVI (1774-1793) WAS WELL-MEANING, BUT INDECISIVE AND DULL WITTED. HE WAS PRONE TO PERIODS OF DEPRESSION BY HIS FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY.
- ANOTHER REASON FOR THE REVOLUTION WAS THE UNJUST AND INEFFICIENT TAX SYSTEM.
- THE FIRST AND SECOND ESTATES WERE EXEMPTED FROM THE "TAILLE" - A PROPERTY TAX WHICH WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT DIRECT GOVERNMENT TAX.
- THE NOBILITY WAS ABLE TO RESIST ANY ATTEMPT TO REFORM THE TAX STRUCTURE WHICH WOULD HAVE INCLUDED THEM IN IT. THUS LOUIS XVI'S FINANCIAL MINISTER TURGOT IS DISMISSED BY HIM
BECAUSE OF THE KING'S INABILITY TO ENFORCE MORE EQUITABLE
TAX LAWS. IN MANY WAYS, TURGOT REPRESENTS LOUIS XVI's LAST CHANCE!
- THE PEASANTS PRACTICED WIDESPREAD TAX EVASION BECAUSE THEY FELT AN UNFAIR BURDEN HAD BEEN PLACED ON THEM.
- ANOTHER MAJOR REASON WAS THAT TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND WAYS HAD BEEN CHALLENGED AND UNDERMINED BY THE PHILOSOPHES.
- ALSO, UNDERGROUND LITERATURE PORTRAYED THE FRENCH ARISTOCRACY AS DECADENT.
- THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF REVOLUTION WAS THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE TREASURY.
- THE FRENCH AID TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION HAD BEEN A BLESSING FOR AMERICANS, BUT A SEVERE DRAIN ON THE FRENCH TREASURY.
- IN 1787, BANKERS REFUSED TO LEND THE GOVERNMENT ANY MORE MONEY. LOUIS XVI WAS FORCED TO CALL A MEETING OF THE ESTATES GENERAL. THIS BODY HAD NOT MET IN 175 YEARS, SINCE THE TIME OF LOUIS XIII IN 1614.
- MEMBERS FROM THE THREE CLASSES WERE INVITED TO ELECT REPRESENTATIVES AND TO DRAW UP A LIST OF THEIR GRIEVANCES.
- THE MEETING OF THE ESTATES GENERAL:
- BY CUSTOM, EACH ESTATE MET SEPARATELY, AND NO LAW COULD BE PASSED WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE KING AND TWO OF THE THREE ESTATES. THIS ENSURED THE NOBILITY OF CONTROL, SINCE THEY MADE UP THE FIRST TWO ESTATES.
- LOUIS XVI GRANTED THE THIRD ESTATE DOUBLE REPRESENTATION, 600 MEMBERS, COMPARED WITH 300 IN EACH OF THE OTHER TWO.
- THE THIRD ESTATE CALLED FOR ALL THE ESTATES TO MEET TOGETHER AND DECIDE ISSUES BY A HEADCOUNT. THE NOBILITY INSISTED ON SEPARATE MEETINGS AND SEPARATE VOTING.
- WITH THE ESTATES GENERAL DEADLOCKED OVER THE ISSUE OF VOTING METHODS, THE THIRD ESTATE DECLARED ITSELF A NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. THIS DECLARATION OF JUNE 17, 1789 WAS THE FIRST ACT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.