Question #0bb65

1 Answer
Feb 20, 2018

Frustrations with the inequality of the Estates, King Louis XVI, and the overall state of the country.

Explanation:

The Estates which Louis XVI had agreed to in order to appease his frustrated people had a very unfair balance of power. The Third Estate (the commoners) had much less power in the Estates General than the nobility, even though there were hundreds more commoner representatives than nobility. The Third Estate was mad that Louis was impeding their progress and he wanted a continued absolute monarchy. They wouldn't stand for this so they basically started to overthrow the king and declared themselves the National Assembly. Some clergy had already joined with them but the other estates joined later. Since this was the Liberal Phase of the Revolution, they were all about reforming laws in order to achieve change and progress, instead of using terror tactics like was done during the Radical Phase. In short, the National Assembly's original goal was to better represent the Third Estate, aka the commoners, and have a fair government and laws.