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WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THIRD ESTATE IN FRENCH REVOLUTION

The lower classes played a highly significant role in the French Revolution. Terminologically, they were referred to as the Third Estate of France. This Estate, comprised of about 96% of the population, bound together to bring an end to the Old Regime of oppression and subjugation.While the privileged First and Second Estates were growing and becoming ever more useless, the Third Estate's bitter feelings and resentment toward the other two Estates was intensifying to the point of explosion. This uprising of feelings brought about mass riots and demonstrations, such as the Storming of the Bastille. The most important role of the Third Estate,however, was their continual push for universal human rights. The days of the Old Regime of France were numerous and took their toll on the Third Estate. The First Estate was comprised of clergymen who owned only 5-10% of France's land. This Second Estate encompassed all of the nobility of France. These two classes, combined, accounted for only about 5% of the country's population. However, a large percent of the people in these classes were exempt from taxes and duties. In order to regain financial stability from all the failed wars in the past, the French monarchy began selling titles of nobility. Between 1774 and 1789, 3,389 people purchased these titles. Although these sales temporarily satisfied the need for money, they created a growing wealthy class with substantial tax exemptions and no purposeful duties. The monarchy had essentially created“an aristocracy that was ever more splendid, yet ever less useful” (Breunig 4). When the monarchy realized that this method was not resolving the fiscal crisis, a taille (head tax) was imposed heavily on the lower classes. The Third Estate was understandably furious and felt that because they made up the vast majority of the country's population, only they had the right to govern France. This led to the many protests and riots.

The numerous riots and demonstrations of the French Revolution served to incur damage not only to the physical buildings and people involved in the rebellion, but also to the power of the Old Regime. The first major riot was the storming of the Bastille, which was a prison in Paris that had, for years, symbolized the iron grip of the Old Regime. Political prisoners who opposed the regime were said to have been held and brutally tortured within the prison's stone walls. On July 14th, 1789, a giant mob of angry Third Estate citizens attacked the prison viciously. The prison's governor, Bernardde Launay, decided to surrender in order to prevent major damage. Upon the opening of the prison gates, the mob rushed in, stole about 28,000 muskets,and grabbed de Launay. He was roughly dragged through the streets of Paris before being beheaded. In the end, only 7 prisoners were found, but the riot was successful nevertheless; the lower classes had clearly expressed a message of tremendous resentment and fury against the injustices of the Old Regime.

Perhaps the most important role of the Third Estate in the French Revolution was that of a continual push for freedom and rights. Many of the major changes in legislature involving universal rights and democracy occurred between 1789 and 1791. For example, during the Night of August 4th, 1789, a group of nobles gathered to renounce their feudal rights and tax exemptions. For centuries, the traditional feudal system had been oppressing the Third Estate of citizens to the point of starvation and homelessness.However, on that groundbreaking night, feudalism was all but destroyed in France forever. This revolutionary act was provoked by the continual grievances and protests by the vast population of the Third Estate. The nobles believed that partial surrender was the only method by which to quell the uprising revolution. Shortly after, the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen was adopted by the National Assembly on August 27th, 1789. This historic document contained seventeen articles with basic universal rights that had never been officially placed into action in France before. Phrases such as “freedom of thought”, “equal man”, and “natural rights” began to be heard all over the country for the first time. The Declaration not only reinforced human rights, but it also was the first major step toward converting France from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy. This groundbreaking document was created by people who sympathized with the injustices inflicted upon the lower classes. The writing of revolutionary documents and legislature would not stop there; the willpower of the Third Estate to overcome the tyrants of the Old Regime would continue to materialize in different ways.

The Third Estate of France contributed greatly to the radical and pioneering steps toward universal human rights taken in the French Revolution. The mass protests by the lower classes served would not only serve as inspiration for later protests in the Revolution, but also for protests for rights in other countries. In addition, the groundbreaking documents regarding human rights created by revolutionary leaders would serve as models for later documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The lower classes of France significantly contributed to the beginnings of universal human rights in France and the world.