NCERT 9th Class (CBSE) Social Science: The French Revolution

Question: How was the system of estates organised in the French society?

Answer: The French society was divided into 3 estates.

1. The Clergy
2. The Nobility and
3. Businessmen, merchants, court officials, peasants, artisans, landless labour & Servants

The members of the first two estates, that is, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed certain privileges by birth. The most important of these was exemption from paying taxes to the state.
Peasants, belonging to the 3^rd estate made up of 90 per cent of the population. Peasants were obliged to render services to the members of the 1^st and 2^nd estate and to work in their houses and fields and to serve in the army or to participate in building roads.

Question: Explain the emergence of the middle class in the 18th century.

Answer: The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of social groups, termed the middle class, who earned their wealth through an expanding overseas trade and from the manufacture of goods such as woollen and silk textiles that were either exported or bought by the richer members of society. In addition to merchants and manufacturers, the educated in the third estate included professions such as lawyers or administrative officials. They believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth. Rather, a person’s social position must depend on his merit. These ideas envisaging a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all, paved way for the emergence of the middle class.

Question: Who were Mirabeau and Abbé Sieyès. Mirabeau ?

Answer: Mirabeau was born in a noble family but was convinced of the need to do away with a society of feudal privilege. He brought out a journal and delivered powerful speeches to the crowds assembled at Versailles.

Abbé Sieyès, originally a priest, believed in equality and wrote an influential pamphlet called ‘What is the Third Estate’?

Mirabeau and Abbé Sieyès led the members of the 3^rd estate who assembled in the hall of an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles, on 20 June. The 3^rd estate declared themselves a National Assembly and wanted a constitution for France that would limit the powers of the monarch.

Question: What was the main objective of the Constitution drafted by the National Assembly?

Answer: The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in 1791. Its main object was to limit the powers of the monarch. These powers instead of being concentrated in the hands of one person, were now separated and assigned to different institutions – the legislature, executive and judiciary. This made France a constitutional monarchy.

Question: How were the members of the National Assembly elected?

Answer: Members of the National Assembly were elected indirectly. Citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly. Not all citizens, however, had the right to vote. Only men above 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage were given the status of active citizens and were eligible to vote. The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens. To qualify as an elector and then as a member of the Assembly, a man had to belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers.