fffderrewfackground: Early modern French society was legally stratified by birth. Its three traditional divisions, called “estates” or "orders," were the clergy-called the 1st Estate, the nobility-called the 2nd Estate, and the common people-called the 3rd Estate. Nobles ruled over commoners, but even among commoners, specific individuals (such as officeholders) or groups (such as a particular guild or an entire town) enjoyed privileges unavailable to outsiders. Because these privileges were passed on primarily through inheritance, they tended to constrain social mobility—although without preventing it, since they could also be bought or sold. Thus individuals and groups constantly negotiated with one another and with the crown for more and better privileges. Even as these privileges maintained a close grip on eighteenth-century imaginations, writers of the Enlightenment found them too rooted in tradition and proposed that talent supersede birth as the main determinant of social standing. Even when based on merit, they argued, social differences should not be defined by law, as they were during the Feudal period. Traditionalists countered that a hierarchy of social orders was necessary to hold society together.
From George Mason University http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap1b.html

Visit http://www.sfponline.org/Uploads/91/19-1uploadtowebsite.pdf to fill in the information on the rights & characteristics of the 3 Estates:

1st Estate:

2nd Estate:

3rd Estate:

Follow this link to view a political cartoon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Troisordres.jpg

Answer: Who do the various figures represent?

Using the information , cartoon and chart above, answer: Why would the 3rd Estate be unhappy with their place in society?

Follow the link below to read the list of grievances the 3rd Estate puts together, before the meeting of the Estates-General. The King called this meeting to bring together the legislative body of France, which had not met in 175 years, to ask the representatives to agree to a tax increase.

The Cahiers of the 3rd Estate: http://history.hanover.edu/texts/cahiers3.html
Choose 3 important articles to explain in your own words. Please note the Article number.
1.

2.

3.
Answer: What issues was the 3rd Estate most upset by or concerned with?

Follow the link below to read about voting during the meeting of the Estates-General. http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture12a.html

What was the traditional arrangement of voting?

What change was the 3rd Estate calling for? Why?

Summary – Using the knowledge you have gained from the WebQuest and your prior knowledge from class, write a comprehensive thesis statement that answers the question: What were the primary causes of the French Revolution? 1 day ago

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ackground: Early modern French society was legally stratified by birth. Its three traditional divisions, called “estates” or "orders," were the clergy-called the 1st Estate, the nobility-called the 2nd Estate, and the common people-called the 3rd Estate. Nobles ruled over commoners, but even among commoners, specific individuals (such as officeholders) or groups (such as a particular guild or an entire town) enjoyed privileges unavailable to outsiders. Because these privileges were passed on primarily through inheritance, they tended to constrain social mobility—although without preventing it, since they could also be bought or sold. Thus individuals and groups constantly negotiated with one another and with the crown for more and better privileges. Even as these privileges maintained a close grip on eighteenth-century imaginations, writers of the Enlightenment found them too rooted in tradition and proposed that talent supersede birth as the main determinant of social standing. Even when based on merit, they argued, social differences should not