USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -the Enlightenment ideas of natural rights and the social contract appealed to the third estate. The revolution began when the government voted for more taxes. This was unfair to the third estate b/c they had little voting power. They withdrew from the government and started a new one called the National Assembly.

Detailed explanation-2: -Enlightenment thinkers saw people as a source of political power. According to the belief of popular sovereignty, a state’s power comes from the consent of the people and a government must represent the needs and ideas of the people who are governed.

Detailed explanation-3: -King Louis XVI, aware of the injustices of the French tax policy, tried to reform the tax code to make it more fair, but was repeatedly thwarted by the overrepresented nobles and clergy. This angered the Third Estate, which refused to vote in the Estates General, and formed instead the National Assembly.

Detailed explanation-4: -A branch of the Third Estate was the bourgeoisie. They were well-educated artisans and capitalists who familiarized themselves with Enlightenment thought. The bourgeoisie believed they were entitled a say in government because of their education and standing in society.