Why was there a revolution in France?

The Estates system

Teaching Notes:
This resource is designed to develop an understanding of the Estates System of the Ancien Regime
and how this caused conflict in French society.

1. Hand out a card to each student in the class – adjust the number of peasant cards to suit the size
of the class. 30 cards are provided but you could add additional peasants if necessary.
2. Students need to identify which estate they belong to.
 NB. First Estate made up of the clergy, Second Estate made up of the nobles, Third
Estate made up of the Bourgeoisie, Sans-Culottes and Peasants.

3. Create a hierarchy by asking the ‘King’ to stand on a chair, students in the First Estate to stand,
students in the Second Estate to kneel and the Third Estate to sit on the floor.
4. Ask students how their characters might feel about the scenarios described below. Draw out the
fact that social tensions existed.
5. You could ask students complete the picture source consolidation tasks below and/or use the
card sort resource (search ‘26278’) as a follow up to examine more of the long term causes of the
Revolution.

Scenarios:
a. The King wants to go to war with neighbouring countries in Europe. He needs more money to
fund this (but it is for the glory of the country!)
 Third Estate should be very angry as they are the only ones that suffer the heavy taxation!
The First and Second Estate should happy about the potential glory for France (NB. this does
change when foreign policy is unsuccessful).

b. The King is a Catholic and feels that all of his subjects should be too. Subjects that are not
Catholic are persecuted.
 Bourgeoisie should be angry about this.

c. Nobles are required to live at Court in Versailles if they want any influence with the King. It is
very expensive to live there, but they are rewarded with a luxurious lifestyle and they don’t have
to worry about things like feeding their family.
 Second Estate begrudgingly pay to do this in order to win favour. The Third Estate feel
resentful of the conspicuous luxury of Court life.

d. Some great thinkers have published some works that question the power of the king and discuss
ideas about democracy.
 Literate classes are able to engage with Enlightenment ideas. Many in the Third estate
would be unable to access these works.

e. There have been suggestions that the financial system needs to be reformed in order to get the
country out of debt.
 First and Second Estates very angry because they want to protect their positions of privilege.
Third Estate will still be taxed heavily, but feel happier that there is potential for equality.

Cards inspired by SHP History Year 8 by Culpin et al. (London: Hodder, 2009) pp. 182-183

© www.teachithistory.co.uk 2016 26279 Page 1 of 6

 Why was there a revolution in France? The Estates system

You are an Archbishop. You are a well-respected Priest.

You are the King.
You work for the Church, you earn up to You work really hard to help the people in your
You believe that your power derives from 400,000 livres per year. You have a lot of village. You earn around 1,000 livres per year
God, that all of your subjects should be control over peoples’ lives. You even control and pay no taxes to the king other than the
Catholic and that you need to secure glory for newspapers, schools and hospitals. You don’t Don Gratuit (free gift) each year. You are
France in war. pay any taxes to the king other than the Don happy to do God’s work for the king, but you
Gratuit (free gift) each year. wish that the system was fairer.

You are a noble from an old family. You are a noble from an old family. You are a noble from a ‘new’ family.
You pay no tax to the king and own a lot of You pay no tax to the king and own a lot of You love the fact that you can tax the peasants
land. People in your family work in the land. People in your family work in the on your land and live in luxury. People in your
highest positions in the land in the army and highest positions in the land in the army and family work in the highest positions in the land
the Church. You collect a lot of taxes from the Church. You collect a lot of taxes from in the army and the Church. Even though you
the peasants who live on your land. You are the peasants who live on your land. You are have a luxurious lifestyle, you do wish that you
suspicious of ‘new’ nobles because they are suspicious of ‘new’ nobles because they are had more of say about laws and more influence
changing the traditional order of things. changing the traditional order of things. with the king.

You are a merchant, a member of the You are a merchant, a member of the
You are a banker, a member of the
bourgeoisie. bourgeoisie.
bourgeoisie.
You are quite wealthy. You pay taxes to the You are quite wealthy. You pay taxes to the
You are quite wealthy. You pay taxes to the
king to fund his wars. You cannot worship king to fund his wars. You cannot worship
king to fund his wars. You are very interested
openly as a Protestant and you are interested openly as a Protestant and you are interested
in ideas about democracy.
in ideas about democracy. in ideas about democracy.

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 Why was there a revolution in France? The Estates system

You are an urban worker, part of the Sans- You are an urban worker, part of the Sans-
You are a lawyer, a member of the Culottes (named after the trousers that you Culottes (named after the trousers that you
bourgeoisie. wear). wear).
You are quite wealthy. You pay taxes to the Your wages are very poor. You pay taxes to Your wages are very poor. You pay taxes to
king to fund his wars. You cannot worship the king to fund his wars. The price of bread the king to fund his wars. The price of bread
openly as a Protestant and you are interested and the amount of rent that you have to pay and the amount of rent that you have to pay to
in ideas about democracy. to the nobles means that you struggle to feed the nobles means that you struggle to feed
your family. your family.

You are an urban worker, part of the Sans-

Culottes (named after the trousers that you You are a peasant. You are a peasant.
wear). You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to the
Your wages are very poor. You pay taxes to the Church and high rents to the nobles just Church and high rents to the nobles just like
the king to fund his wars. The price of bread like the rest of the Third Estate. When the rest of the Third Estate. When harvests
and the amount of rent that you have to pay harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up are bad, the price of bread goes up and you
to the nobles means that you struggle to feed and you struggle to feed your family. struggle to feed your family.
your family.

You are a peasant. You are a peasant. You are a peasant.

You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to the
the Church and high rents to the nobles just the Church and high rents to the nobles just Church and high rents to the nobles just like
like the rest of the Third Estate. When like the rest of the Third Estate. When the rest of the Third Estate. When harvests
harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up are bad, the price of bread goes up and you
and you struggle to feed your family. and you struggle to feed your family. struggle to feed your family.

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 Why was there a revolution in France? The Estates system

You are a peasant. You are a peasant. You are a peasant.

You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to the
the Church and high rents to the nobles just the Church and high rents to the nobles just Church and high rents to the nobles just like
like the rest of the Third Estate. When like the rest of the Third Estate. When the rest of the Third Estate. When harvests
harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up are bad, the price of bread goes up and you
and you struggle to feed your family. and you struggle to feed your family. struggle to feed your family.

You are a peasant. You are a peasant. You are a peasant.

You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to the
the Church and high rents to the nobles just the Church and high rents to the nobles just Church and high rents to the nobles just like
like the rest of the Third Estate. When like the rest of the Third Estate. When the rest of the Third Estate. When harvests
harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up are bad, the price of bread goes up and you
and you struggle to feed your family. and you struggle to feed your family. struggle to feed your family.

You are a peasant. You are a peasant. You are a peasant.

You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to the
the Church and high rents to the nobles just the Church and high rents to the nobles just Church and high rents to the nobles just like
like the rest of the Third Estate. When like the rest of the Third Estate. When the rest of the Third Estate. When harvests
harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up are bad, the price of bread goes up and you
and you struggle to feed your family. and you struggle to feed your family. struggle to feed your family.

© www.teachithistory.co.uk 2016 26279 Page 4 of 6

 Why was there a revolution in France? The Estates system

You are a peasant. You are a peasant. You are a peasant.

You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to You have to pay taxes to the king, tithes to the
the Church and high rents to the nobles just the Church and high rents to the nobles just Church and high rents to the nobles just like
like the rest of the Third Estate. When like the rest of the Third Estate. When the rest of the Third Estate. When harvests
harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up harvests are bad, the price of bread goes up are bad, the price of bread goes up and you
and you struggle to feed your family. and you struggle to feed your family. struggle to feed your family.

© www.teachithistory.co.uk 2016 26279 Page 5 of 6

 Why was there a revolution in France? The Estates system
Consolidation task:
Look carefully at this cartoon and answer the questions below.

a. What can you see in this cartoon?

b. What is the meaning of this cartoon?
c. How did the Estates System lead to the French Revolution?

Peasant, Nobility and Clergy/ Etching / Credit: akg-images / Universal Images Group / Copyright © akg-images /
For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image
Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial

© www.teachithistory.co.uk 2016 26279 Page 6 of 6