The French Revolution and the Three Estates

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles."

Karl Marx

Who should have political power in a society? Why are most political leaders drawn from the wealthy? Why don't many poor people vote? These are the sorts of political questions that beg to be answered today as much as ever. At the beginning of 1789, France was experiencing one of its most dire economic periods. In the midst of this national crisis, King Louis XVI of France called for a meeting of the pseudo-legislature known as the Estates-General for the first time since 1614. The legislature had not met in over 150 years! This governmental body was made up of the members of the three classes of "estates" of society--the first estate consisted of the clergy, the second estate consisted of the nobility, and the third state was made up of everyone else. At their meeting, a power struggle ensued which eventually resulted in the French Revolution.

The purpose of this webquest will be for students to gain information about various systems of governance, the French Revolution, and the reasons why power is allocated to particular groups in society. The question we seek to answer from this webquest is "Who should control political power in a nation: the masses, the clergy, or the elite?"