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n On July 14, 1789, several starving working people of Paris and sixty soldiers seized control of the Bastille, forever changing the course of French history. The seizing of the Bastille wasn’t caused by one event, but several underlying causes such as the Old ....

Middle of Essay
.... 483). The third estate accounted for ninety-eight percent of France’s population. The third estate was divided into three groups; the middle class, known as the bourgeoisie, the urban lower classes, and the peasant farmers. The third estate lost about half their income in taxes. They paid feudal dues, royal taxes, and also owed the corvee, a form of tax paid with work (Krieger 484). A second underlying cause was the raising of taxes. The third estate was already being taxed enough, and the nobles refusal to pay taxes only worsened the problem. The third underlying cause was the American Revolution. The French had incurred an enormous de ....