Asha-Marie Brown
Period 6
08.31.14
I refute the statement "the essential motivating cause of both the French Revolution and the Constitution of 1791 was a 'wounded sense of dignity' on the part of the members of the Bourgeoisie" due to my findings that the actions of the people of France started the French Revolution, though the bourgeoisie were partly to blame.
The main cause of the French Revolution was the French people's frustration with the king. They were poorly paid laborers, they were tithing and they were paying taxes from which the nobilities could claim immunity. As the people became more resentful of the power of the privileged few, they decided to take action to overthrow the monarchy and install a new government that would be based on a constitution and in which representatives of the people would run the country. They were also responsible for the storming of the Bastille Prison and the killing of the prison's governor which lead to the king having to fulfil their wish of having a constitution.
Theophilanthropes, during the French Revolution.
"The Storming of the Bastille", Visible in the cen...
French etching from 1789 depicting the storming of...Another reason I refute this statement is because the constitution was in favor of the people of France and did not benefit the bourgeoisie in any way because the bourgeoisie lost a lot of their power and their privileges. After the constitution, the country was basically ran by the representatives of the people of France to help fulfil their needs. This in turn meant that the bourgeoisie no longer had much say in what goes on in the country.
The constitution also succeeded in eliminating the nobility as a legal order and struck down monopolies and guilds. It established a poll tax and barred servants from voting, ensuring that control of the country stayed firmly in the hands of the middle class.
In a nutshell,