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Year 8

Enlightenment ideas and the causes of the French Revolution

I can explain why the French Revolution took place.

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New
New
Year 8

Enlightenment ideas and the causes of the French Revolution

I can explain why the French Revolution took place.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. European Enlightenment ideas had spread to America, causing a revolution which France had supported.
  2. The French monarchy was deep in debt and taxed the poorest in society the most.
  3. The inequality of the Ancien Régime and successive poor harvests angered ordinary people.
  4. King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette spent money lavishly whilst their people were starving.
  5. The people of France rose up against the monarchy in revolution in 1789 leading to the execution of the king.

Common misconception

The French Revolution only occurred because of the Enlightenment.

The French Revolution occurred for a myriad of reasons. These include causes such as the Enlightenment, the influence of the American Revolution, the lavish spending of the monarchy and their supposed indifference to the plight of the Third Estate.

Keywords

  • Ancien Régime - the Ancien Régime was the name for the political and social system in France before the Revolution, ruled by the monarch: King Louis XVI

  • Taille - the taille was a land tax paid in France by peasants and non-nobles before the Revolution, and was not paid by clergy or nobility

  • Estates-General - an Estates-General was an emergency meeting of people from all areas of French society that the king could call to advise him

  • Republic - a republic is a country without a king or queen.

  • Absolute - the ability of a monarch to do as they please without having to answer to anyone for their actions is known as absolute power

Encourage students to see the Enlightenment as a long-term cause of the French Revolution and evaluate the extent of its significance in the eventual execution of Louis XVI.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In what year was the Declaration of Independence signed?
Correct Answer: 1776, seventeen seventy six
Q2.
The printing press allowed __________ ideas to arrive in the American colonies.
Protestant
Renaissance
Correct answer: Enlightenment
Classical
Q3.
There were British colonies in North America at the time of the Revolutionary War.
Correct Answer: 13, thirteen
Q4.
In 1765 Britain introduced new taxation to the American colonies in the form of the Act.
Correct Answer: Stamp, stamp
Q5.
Starting with the earliest, place these events in chronological order.
1 - The Stamp Act
2 - The Boston Massacre
3 - The Boston Tea Party
4 - The Declaration of Independence
Q6.
The collective name for the basic principles/laws which govern a country is a...
Correct Answer: constitution, Constitution

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Enlightenment thinkers in France blamed the problems of their country on Louis XVI and the Régime.
Correct Answer: Ancien, ancien
Q2.
In France, which group had to pay the taille?
nobles
clergy
Correct answer: peasants
Q3.
Many peasants in France were starving following years of bad...
Correct Answer: harvests, Harvests
Q4.
Match the 'estate' to its social group.
Correct Answer:First Estate,clergy

clergy

Correct Answer:Second Estate,nobility

nobility

Correct Answer:Third Estate,ordinary commoners

ordinary commoners

Q5.
When members of the Third Estate broke away from the Estates-General they formed the 'National '.
Correct Answer: Assembly, assembly
Q6.
When Louis and Marie Antoinette were executed in January 1793 it brought about the end to monarchy in France.
Correct Answer: absolute, Absolute

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