The+French+Revolution+through+sources


 * Source A: **An Englishman’s view of French peasants, 1787 – 1790. Travels in France – Arthur Young, 1792.

I was joined by a poor woman who complained of the times. Her husband had only a morsel of land, one cow and a poor horse. But they had to pay 20kg of wheat and three chickens as feudal dues to one lord, and 60kg of oats, one chicken and five pence to another, along with very heavy taxes to the king’s tax collectors: “The taxes and feudal dues are crushing us.”


 * Source B: //The People should have power, 1775.// **// A pamphlet, banned by the French government in 1775, Jean Jacques Rousseau. //

Man is born free. No man has any natural authority over others; force does not give anyone that right. The power to make laws belongs to the people and only to the people.


 * Source C: //Yearly incomes compared.// **// The livre was replaced by the franc in 1795. In the 1780s, there were about 4 livres to £1. //

Archbishop of Paris 50,000 livres Marquis de Mainvillette 20,000 livres Prince de Conti 14,000 livres A Paris parish priest 10,000 livres A typical village priest 750 livres A master carpenter 200 livres


 * 1) How does the author of source A describe the lives of French peasants? (remember: it is not enough to say ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – you need to give examples from the source!) [6]
 * 2) Study sources A and C together. Do these sources explain why poor people in France resented the rich? Explain your answer using the sources. [7]
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rousseau (source B) was an influential writer at this time. Along with other writers like Voltaire, he wanted France to have a more democratic form of government. Who would be most influenced by his words and why? (remember to include extracts form the source in your answer.) [7]
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The pamphlet which source B came from was banned in 1775. Why do you think this was? Which members of French society would want it to be banned? [7]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Souce D <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">

5. Using the information provided in Source D explain: How was the relationship between population and land ownership one of the causes of the French Revolution? [6] 6. How does Source D indicate why the First and Second Estate, despite their power, would fear the Third Estate? [6]


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Source E. – //From the collection of Cahiers taken to the Estates-General.// **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">O rich citizens be so good as to leave for a time your chateaux and palaces and be so good as to glance at those unfortunates whose muscles are only occupied in working for you. What do you see in our villages? A few weakened men, faces withered by poverty and shame, their wives having too many children, their children wearing rags… …All the peasants in our neighbourhood – Brittany – are making ready to refuse the church tax-gatherers and state that nothing will be taken without bloodshed.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Source F – //A modern view of the calling of the Estates General.// **//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The modern French Historian, Lefebvre, La Revolution Francaise, 1951. //

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The King wanted to hear the voice of his people in order to right all wrongs. What a surprising development. The King was all-powerful: therefore, the people thought, the wrongs must be about to end. The peasants chewed over their suffering with growing bitterness now that they had been invited to speak. They dredged up from the depths of their minds memories from past sufferings.


 * 1) 3. Read source E. According to this source, what were French villages like? Were all French villages like the one described? Explain your answer. [6]


 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">What are the peasants of Brittany threatening at the end of source E? Use words from the source to add detail to your answer. [6]
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">What does the author of source F think about the calling of the Estates General? Support your answer providing evidence from the source. [6]