LQ: How can I prepare for my

assessment on the French

Revolution - Criterion A?
Section A - Knowledge and Understanding
In your Assessment next week, six Questions will be multiple choice questions on:

The Three Estates, The Taxes, the Estates General, the causes of the French
Revolution.
1. Louis is a weak King
2. The Third Estate want more power
3. Ideas gained from other countries
4. Other: Food Crises,

and the
Peasants
 The Three Estates
King Louis XV!
First Estate
The First Estate was made up of members of the Church (clergy). The Church
Estate was really important in France as it owned 1/10 of the land in France and many
church leaders were in the French government.

The First Estate was allowed a lot of privileges. They did not have to pay the
taille and could not be called up for the army. Also, if they broke the law they
Here by
were given their punishments write aboutin their
other members theclass (their friends).
taxes
Second Estate
The Second Estate was made up of the nobles of France. In 1789 there
were about 400,000 nobles in France who owned about 1/3 of the total
land.
Estate
Noble families served the King in war – they were the officers who would
lead the armies into battles. In return for this they were also granted
Here
privileges. For example, write:
they did not havewhat
to pay many taxes to the
government like the First Estate.
problems could the
Third Estate Estate system cause?
Estate Peasants and everyone else. This Estate was made up of most of the
Infer as many as possible
population ranging from rich businessmen to poor peasants. The members of the
Third Estate had no privileges and played no part in running the country.
 The Taxes

Taille: a tax on land and income which neither the First or Second Estates had to
pay.

Gabelle: A tax on salt – salt was an essential part of everyday life in 1789. It was
used to preserve meat and also to disguise the taste of food that had gone off.

Tithes: Every year a member of the Third Estate would have to pay one tenth of
their yearly income in a tax to the Church.
 Louis Calls the meeting of Estates General in France 1789

Estates General: a group which represented all the different

Estates in France
The Tennis Court Oath
Louis now tried to break up the Estates
General. On 20 June 1789 the Third Estate
went to a nearby tennis court and swore an
oath. They said they would not go home until
Louis agreed to a constitution.

The Third Estate also formed a new

Parliament called the National Assembly. On
27 June the clergy and nobles joined.

Like the fall of the Bastille a fortnight later, the

Tennis Court Oath became a memorable gesture
of revolutionary defiance against the old regime.
 There are lots of different causes – can you put them into
the four categories of:
1. Louis is a weak King
2. The Third Estate want more power
3. Ideas gained from other countries
4. Other

The British kings

Twenty years ago America The harvests of 1787 have little power and
managed to change the way
. and 1788 have been they seem to be rich.
their country was run. It’s a
much fairer place to live
dreadful. There is no
now. food for the people.

The poor pay taxes The ordinary people The taxes we pay to
while the rich and should have a say in how the priests have long
priests pay nothing. the country is run, not been disgraceful. That
It’s not fair! only the King and needs changing.
Nobles

Louis is a weak king. He Our King should not The King’s advisors are
have married that
should be a strong foreign woman. She hopeless. They run the
leader, not spending all spends money like country badly and ruin
his time hunting. water. France.
Section A - Knowledge and Understanding
Two Questions will be: fill in the gap sentences, you will have three gaps to fill, this could be one
word such as ‘Clergy’ or a series of words which are the title of a person, place or event. E.g. The
Storming of the Bastille.

These sentences will be about the execution of King Louis and the Consequences of the
Revolution (After Louis).

- Collect keywords from linked slides

 Off with his head
❖ In December 1792 Louis XVI
was put on trial. He was
accused of plotting against
the French nation and helping
the Austrian invasion.

❖ He was found guilty of treason

and sentenced to Death.

❖ On 21 January 1793 King Louis

XVI of France, was executed
by guillotine at the Place de la
Revolution in Paris.
Guillotine: a machine for cutting off a person's
head by means of a heavy blade
 The group was called the
Jacobins

In 1804, Napoleon was crowned the first

Emperor France. At the coronation, he
did not allow the Pope to place the crown
Click here for more about the: French Revolution for on his head, but instead crowned himself.
Click here for more
Kids: Reign of Terror
Section A - Knowledge and Understanding
Two Questions will be open questions* on: 1. life in France before the Revolution AND 2. a significant event from
the Revolution of your choice.

You must write at least one paragraph for each question and try to include explanations and examples in your
answers.

1.How would you describe life in France before the revolution from the perspectives of the Three
estates?

2. Significant events we have covered:

Storming of the Bastille, Coronation of Napoleon, Reign of Terror, Execution of King Louis, The
Imprisonment of King Louis and his Family, The Meeting of the Estates General and the Tennis Court
Oath.

Choose one of these events to research and revise for the assessment. Use these slides, the
internet or powerpoints on MB.
LQ: How can I prepare for my
assessment on the French
Revolution - Criterion D?
 Section D - Critical Thinking
For Question 1, you will analyse two written sources about the causes of the French
Revolution and respond to a question, using evidence (quotations from the texts)

To practice, analyse sources A and B on slides 13 and 14.

In your own words explain two perspectives (opinions) of the execution of King Louis.

In your explanation, use specific details mentioned in both sources and your own
knowledge to support your explanation.

Use the words of the question to structure your answer.

One opinion of the execution of King Louis in Source A was…
Use the quotes from of the source to support your answer.
I know they had this opinion because it mentions in source A that…’the whole
population go by, arm by arm,’
Explain your choice of evidence
This evidence proves that
 Source analysis:
Source A :
His blood flows and there are people who dip a fingertip, a quill, a
scrap of paper in it. One tastes it: 'It is vilely salt!' An executioner
sells small bundles of his hair; people buy the ribbon that tied it.

Everyone carries off a small bundle of his clothing or some other

blood-stained remnant (left over). The whole population go by, arm in
arm, laughing and talking as if from some festivity.

Description of the execution by Mercier. He was a member of

parliament. He was in the crowd that witnessed the execution.
 Source analysis:

Source B:
Louis XVI lost his life on Monday, at half past ten in the morning, and to the last
he maintained the greatest possible courage. He wished to speak to the
people,but was seized by the executioners, who were following their orders,
and who pushed him straight under the fatal blade.
He was able to speak only these words, in a very strong voice: 'I forgive my
enemies; I trust that my death will be for the happiness of my people, but I
grieve for France and I fear that she may suffer the anger of the Lord.'

A letter from Bernard, a supporter of the king. 23 January 1793

 Section D - Critical Thinking
For Question 2, you will be asked to give and justify your opinion on
something you have learnt about the French Revolution. Don't forget to
include evidence and examples from your own learning to support your
opinion such as facts about people, events and places. You should try to
refer to characteristics of a revolution: state crises, mass frustration,
dissident elites, shared motivation.

Top tip - Use PEEL

For example, you could be asked what you think the most important event of the
French Revolution was.
Point: The most important event of the French Revolution was…The Storming of
the Bastille because it showed that the Third Estate had power
Evidence: The protestors at the event were able to… ADD EVIDENCE, better
evidence has dates, names specific details.
Explain: This is very important because it shows the shared motivation…
Link: Therefore, the most important event of the French revolution
 Section D - Critical Thinking
3. State and explain the origin, purpose, value and limitations of Source C.
By Origin, the Q asks where the source is from (its creator), what it is, who made it and where. By Purpose, the Q asks the
purpose of the source, why it was created and for what purpose. By Value, the Q asks how valuable the source is to historians
studying the event, and what are the positives of the source for a historian. By Limitations the Q asks why the source is limited in
value for the historian. For example, is the source biassed towards someone in the source or the artist or is there important
information missing?

This table will be

shown on your
assessment, so for
this time, you will
not have to
remember what
Origin, Purpose,
Value and
Limitations mean!
 Values and Limitations of Historical Sources
Values

● You know that the historical source hasn’t been changed, altered, or paraphrased by anyone else. It’s “straight from the horse’s mouth” and
ready for you to apply your own interpretation.
● If a source was not ever meant to be read by other people (for example, diaries or journals) then it might be more honest and direct than other
sources from the past and present.
● It provides evidence that can be linked back to an original source or author – someone who was alive at the time of the event. This is usually
more convincing than guessing or making unconfirmed claims would be.

Limitations

● Some historical sources might cause problems when it comes to understanding them – especially the written ones! Language changes over
time. The English in use today is not the same as the one that was used even 400 years ago, which can make it difficult to interpret. This is
why visual sources can be more valuable than written ones as we don’t need to speak the language.
● Older historical sources can be fragile, and have to be kept in museums or special collections. This means they are difficult to access for
ordinary people, requiring special permission – if you can even access them at all!
● You don’t know if a historical source is telling the truth or not. It could be true or untrue, it could be leaving out key pieces of information to
create a biased account, or it could be based on false beliefs and prejudices that the writer had at the time.
 Points to consider about art as sources of
history

Painting, sculpture, music, literature, and

other arts are often considered to a
collection of a society’s collective memory.

Art preserves what fact-based historical

records cannot: how it felt to exist in a
particular place at a particular time.
Top Tip
However, art is not the same as written
A lot of important records, it is more open to interpretation
information about the than text. It can also be altered and
source can be found in damaged over time.
the caption beneath the
source.

Source C - Last Words of Louis XVI an Instant before His Death on January 21, 1793: “I forgive my enemies. I hope my death will bring
France salvation. I die innocent”, depicting the king confessing to the Irish Catholic priest Henry Essex Edgeworth, (French) artist
unknown.
 Exemplar answers
The origin of Source C is France, 1793. It is a painting by an unknown French artist.

The purpose of this source is to depict the last words of King Louis to his Priest before his execution.
It was created to show the King’s perspective to the people of France, that he believed he was
innocent and forgave his enemies.

This source is valuable because it is painted by someone from the same time and place. We can learn
about one account of the King’s last words. As a visual source, we can see and more accurately
imagine the people and place.

The limitations of this source is that it is biassed towards the artist's perspective. The artwork shows
King Louis XVI as someone who is forgiving and loyal to France so it is most likely an artist who was
loyal to the King who painted it. We do not know who the artist is, so we cannot be certain if they
witnessed the event or not. Also, paintings are often subject to the artist’s imagination and may not
exactly replicate the real life event. This is more likely as the artist was not well known so it is also not
a reliable source.