2.  Presented new ideas about the role of
the people in government
 John Locke: the purpose of
government is to protect life, liberty,
and property
If government doesn’t do its job, the
people have the right to overthrow the
government and form a new one.

3.  Thomas Jefferson used Locke’s ideas
in writing the Declaration of
Independence.
 The success of the American
Revolution was a model for the
French.

4.  France was split into 3 classes, called
Estates
 In this system the nobility and clergy had
all of the power, most of the land, and
paid none of the taxes
 The common people had none of the
power, only a little of the land, and paid
all of the taxes

6.  King Louis XVI was an extravagant
spender
 Went into debt over war spending
(including money spent to help America
defeat the British)
 The people were already highly taxed
 The banks wouldn’t lend the king any
money

8.  The king called the Estates-General together
to vote to raise taxes
 The 3rd Estate insisted on a bigger say in the
government, but the king refused
 The 3rd Estate formed their own body called
the National Assembly
 They met on the king’s tennis court to form a
new constitution, called theTennis Court
Oath

10. July 14, 1789 a group of peasants
stormed the Bastille, a prison and
armory
Riots broke out across France
The French Revolution had
officially begun