The+French+Aristocracy

**__Question: How is power distributed toward the high class?__**

In 1789, France was powerful. They possessed colonies and they took the leadership in science and art. They had great armies and navies. It seemed like a very intelligent, civilized country, but there was a flaw. __Feudalism__, is a term when lords had total power over the common people. Lords may include nobles, high officials of the catholic church, and kings. Feudalism did not allow freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or freedom of the press. The classes were divided into three, the clergy, nobility, and the commoners. The clergy are the religious workers; there were less than 1% of clergies in the population. They were the highest class, most respected, most rich, and the most powerful. Then came the nobility. The nobilities were the members with titles from royalty. There were about 200,000 nobilities in the population. They were rich and powerful. But there was a major difference when the nobility was compared with the clergy or the commoners. There were about 26 million commoners in the population.However, they were separated in two groups. The Bourgeoisie were the group with small farms and businesses in the city, the doctors and lawyers. They were wealthy enough to support their families and some were actually wealthy enough to count as nobility. Laborers on the other hand, were very poor. They worked as wagon drivers, factory workers, and grave diggers. There were around 21 million laborers. They struggled to put bread on the table, and most of the time, they starved.

The difference between a nobility and a commoner, is that nobilities are listened to. They have a voice that will speak out to the government or king if they have to. The peasants on the other hand, they are not heard. Usually ignored, they had no voice in the community. This is a form of aristocracy.

"A nation is truly corrupted when, having by degrees lost its character and its liberty, it passes from democracy to aristocracy or to monarchy; that is the decrepitude and death of the body politic. . . . "

Louis XVI was the king of France. He was an absolute monarch, a king who had control over everything without obstacles in his way. Although sometimes, he would hand over problems from the community to the government if he does not wish to be bothered.



Citations: McGowen, Tom. //Robespierre and the French Revolution in World History //. Berkeley Heights, NJ, USA: Enslow, 2000. Print. "Maximilien Robespierre: speech on the justification of the use of terror (1794)." //World History: The Modern Era //.ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. "Louis XVI." // World History: The Modern Era //. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.

images: "Family of Country People Louis Le Nain China Oil Paintings Wholesale 40463." //China Wholesale Oil Painting Wholesale China Oil Painting //. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. . "The French Revolution | Louis XVII | Robespierre." //Bernard Maybeck //. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. .