Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Meeting of the Estates General 1789
May 5, 1789- Versailles I, King Louis XVI, have called this meeting to order. This is the first time each estate has met together since the year of our lord, 1614. The purpose of this meeting is to try to create a solution to our great nations growing financial problems. This is a problem we cannot avoid anymore. I wanted all of us to meet today, to discuss the financial deficit. One solution that may have to happen is the raising of taxes. This seems to be the only way of getting our great nation out of debt. I am in need of advice on all sides of the spectrum. What are your views of raising taxes? Who should pay these taxes? I felt bringing us all together may help solve something; do you think this was a good idea? Comment below IN CHARACTER. Be sure to answer every question I have asked! Curtly, King Louis XVI
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To King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteIt has come to my attention that there will be a meeting held for the first time with variations of people: the priests, the nobles, and of course us people from the third estate. I would like to offer my opinions on this situation. Firstly, I think it is fairly generous of you to even think of us people that have such little importance in your world. However, I do predict the meeting will turn out into a debate that will come to no conclusion. Everyone seems to be on different levels about taxes. Being a well educated lawyer who has money, but musts waste much of it on taxes. I believe that if we pay taxes, everyone should pay taxes. It is not fair to have to pay unreasonable amounts just because we are not as important as the priests. Thank you for your time and I hope you do take my words into consideration.
Sincerely,
Samuel Brownell (Lawyer)
Dear Samuel,
DeleteI have spoken to god and hes told me that I am not to pay these taxes.
Sincerely,
His Holiness Priest Gavin Buck
To King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteRegarding the taxes I feel like the third estate needs to get the most attention. The first and second estate have all worked hard for their money and we serve you and our land. I feel that peasants and people of low rank should have to contribute as the others do. Though we pay our land in ways such as church services, defence and government, the third estate should have to help out also. To get the money back the more taxes, the faster we will receive. The money is for the people but they also need to be a part of gathering it. I believe the taxes should remain on the third estate, maybe in lesser forms to help them be able to uphold them. Thank you
From,
Julia Baran (noble)
King Louis XVI
ReplyDeleteI understand your situation. Our country is in serious debt and we need to fix that. Yet may I ask, is it our fault? Did we spend that money? Orwas it that lying, cheating, wife of yours, throwing all of those parties we couldn't afford! Taxes should not be raised any more than what heights they are at now.
As of who pays the taxes, we all should. Every single class puts in the same amount. We live on the same land, why not pay equal amounts? IT IS NOT FAIR what you do to your people. You do not tax the First estate and barely tax your second, but what about your third estate? I have a family at home with many little mouths to feed. What am I supposed to tell my spouse when I come back from a days work with nothing sold? No money, no food.
On a far different note, it was an honor to be one of several third estate members invited to the meeting. I find it is important to be given a say in what we will be taxed with because some things we cannot help. Although it is better that these taxes are not given to us in surprise, your majesty.
Sincerely,
A merchant who does not like surprises.
(Lexi Pestritto)
To King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for holding this meeting! I always feel as if you don't care about our opinions here in the third estate. I guess you care now, right? Will you really listen to our thoughts, or just to your favored nobles and priests? If you will, this is a great oportunity for us peasants. As for taxes, stop raising them for us down here in the third estate, and tax the first and second estates already! Everybody should pay equal taxes. That way, next time you want to raise taxes to compensate for your wife's parties, you can think about the anger in every estate. Maybe you will think twice about raising taxes when your precious noblemen are scrambling in the dirt for bread along with the rest of us!
I hope I can thank you for your consideration,
An Angry Peasant
(Katie Stevenson)
To King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteFirst I would love to thank you for the invitation to this fine meeting, it is always a pleasure. First off, I would like to congratulate, and further encourage you on the new tax raises. I have always believed that being born into the position of a nobleman, or perhaps fighting for our country should always have its rewards. If you are unlucky enough to not have that opportunity, the church is always welcoming good, respected priests. On another note though, I did notice the peasants have attended. Although it does exemplify your kindness, they are to surely have biased opinions on taxing. This is due to the fact that they are failing to pay them, furthermore failing to support our country. The only reasonable way to surely fix this is of course to raise taxes! We noblemen shall pay our dues when necessary, but the third estate needs to realize that the first estate, soldiers and such, have done enough for our country. The peasants need to step up and fulfill their duties, there is no other way around it.
As always I thank you for your time,
A Loyal Nobleman
(Brandon Wallace)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteIt is a great honor for us peasants to be recognized by you and be invited to this meeting of the Estates General. But is it really? The duty of a king is to protect its people and act on the will of the people. It is one thing to need the king to protect the citizens, but it is completely different when the citizens need to be protected FROM the king. By harshly taxing the third estate, you are robbing us of our hard earned money and putting us in debt while you sit on your luxurious throne and play God. Have you ever thought of paying off your own debts and taxing your nobles for once instead of mooching off of the people who are actually struggling to thrive? No, of course you haven’t because why would you pay for your own expenses when you could steal other people’s money instead. There is more than enough money to pay the taxes and the countries debts; it’s just in the pockets of you and your nobles. Furthermore, this meeting is an absolute waste of time for us peasants because the only thing that will come out of this meeting would be argument. Even if you did care about what we have to say (which you don’t), you would still choose the decision that best benefits you and your nobles.
Sincerely,
A furious and exasperated peasant
(Andrew DelRocini)
Dear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you would allow us to have a say and listen to our cries. you have done the right thing allowing all the estates to meet together to discuss our problems. The whole meeting will be on these unfair and ridiculuos taxes. We do not deserve to be treated like this. We do not poccess money like the nobles or the clergy. We do not get charity like the church and we do not get tax breaks like the nobles do. We have served this country well. We work hard so you and many others can have what they need and this is how we are thanked. These taxes should be equally shared among all estates but the wealthier should be taxed more because they can spare it and this country needs money. You yourself my lord could help also. You could restrict your wives extreme spending so the treasury actually has money. I mean no offence my Lord, I only offer solutions to the economic problem that plagues us.
Thank you for your time my Lord,
A loyal peasant to France and her people
(William Challender)
Dear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteThank you for including us in this meeting. The third estate does not get much say in the government which bothers us a lot. We feel that the way you are taxing us. I don't understand why the priest gets the luxury of not being taxed AND gets paid every time we are taxed? I think that yes we all should be taxed but we should be taxed depending on the amount of money we make. The priest and noblemen should be taxed more than us because they are more well off and can afford the high taxes. Hopefully you listen to our suggestions, which I highly doubt because you don't care about the Third Estate's input. Once again thank you for inviting everybody because we all should have a say in the government and sadly at the moment we don't.
Sincerely,
A peasant who is tired of being ignored
Dear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteFirst off i would love to say thank you so much for an invitation to this meeting. The 3rd estate is in a lot of trouble due to these new taxes. Being an artisan i know taxes are necessary, but why do you continue to raise them when we already have so little to give? Also its extremely unfair that you do not tax the first and second estate. Now me being a devoted Catholic I understand why you wouldn't feel obligated to tax the church, but if you are going to make the taxes to high for us to tax maybe lowering it and charging everyone the same tax would be more fair. There are certainly better ways to go about restoring the treasury of France. Putting up taxes that are not payable is not the right way to do it. Please consider the third estate and our struggle.Thank you.
Sincerely,
An artisan who wants change.
(Sam Ruiz)
Dear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteThank you for including the 3rd Estate in this meeting. I think it is necessary for you to hear the opinions of all the people of France, especially those who are dealing with nearly all of the taxes. Please do not raise the taxes further. Considering the 3rd estate makes up the majority of France and has no money to begin with, I, along with many others, believe that we should be subject to equal taxes as the nobles. If anything, make the nobles pay a bit more because they have more money to give that would help France. As a cook, I make food for many people, including you. I need money for ingredients and these taxes have left me completely broke! How can I prepare a meal without any food? France will starve and you will too. Unless you enjoy the taste of dirt, I suggest you reconsider the matter of overtaxing your furious and starving peasants.
Sincerely,
An overlooked cook
(Maddie Kane)
Dear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteIt is quite a pleasure for you to hold a meeting that includes all three estates. By doing this sir, you will be able to hopefully, hear and soak in the ideas each and everyone of us has to offer to you. Starting off, you and your queen's recent decision to raise taxes is utterly barbaric! My life is already hard enough being unemployed and with you taxing the third estate (WHICH INCLUDES ME) most... it's as if you plan for my people and I to die! A king's duty is to make his people feel safe and protected, and he should make sure situations do not result in chaos. The acts you recently chose to commit are the complete OPPOSITE of what a true king is supposed to be doing! I just feel if you wanted us people to be satisfied in your decisions, you should alter them. One way is to change how much a person is being taxed. The third estate has to pay the biggest amount of taxes, while we are the poorest ones. The first estate doesn't even have to pay and the second estate has to pay a minimum amount. I think if you were to tax a person more by how much money they make would result in having things less chaotic than they are now. It would also be more beneficial to you and the queen since you would be getting more money than you desired. By following this idea, the more richer (priest) can supply you more money from paying off bigger taxes, while us poor people can survive and still pay you our minimum amount of taxes. I truly hope you give in to my thoughts and considerations. This meeting was an honor to me. It was a day where us peasants actually have a say for once.
Thanking you so much for your dear time,
A desperate, jobless peasant. (Daphne Kopacz)
Dear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteThank you for inviting everyone but the peasants and the people on a low budget! Still I like how you are trying to include some of the lower class in the meeting but the peasants would have happily came and ate all the food. The reason we would eat your food however is because you take every euro for use and we can not afford anything to eat! If you want to be a great king you need to have most of the population first. To do that you should start taxing dose rich people that have all the moneys. Stop taxing the people with no money and tax the 1st and 2nd estate.
Sincreelie,
Mr.Lingweni
Dear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteI express my greatess gratitude to you for finally allowing the 3rd Estate to come and speak about the problems that we are facing today in our country. My veiws on rising taxes are that if we wwere to rise taxs we shdould have the 1st and 2nd class citizens pay more then we do since we have lower wages then they do. It would not be fair if only the one or two class pay there taxes, so I would like to pre-pose that every pays taxes and if your pay is high then the average eworking man in this county should pay more, but in a considertion of their life and family. This was a wonderful idea to bring everyone together to talk instead of just to high sections to work out our predicament that we are so deeping forced and draped over us like a never ending fog. ou have tried so deeply to help us gain wealth that you have put us in dept in which we will take the longest time to get out of. I truly hope that my adivse that I have given you make a great change for you and the rest of the population.
Sincerely,
1# Writer
(Timesha Matchett)
Dear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe that taxes should be increased to benefit the wealth of France. I understand that the third estate citizens are angry that I do not have to pay any taxes, but who are they to tell me what to pay when I am a man who has spoken to god himself. It is in outrageous concept to put a tax on the first estate. These taxes should be payed mainly by people in the third estate and people in the second estate (although they shall not pay as much). Also I would like to say that bringing all the estates to this conference was a BAD idea. There are too many peasants that do not even contribute to this country and cannot conform to get something done. The meeting should be restricted to first and second estate individuals.
Sincerely,
His Holiness Priest Gavin J. Buck
To whom it may concern,
ReplyDeleteI would like to take a second to acknowledge the fact that us third estate is in fact, included in the meeting. Cheers to that! It is great knowing that you'll actually listen to about 97% of the population, something that should have happened a while ago. As far as taxes go, lower them. Raising them creates more problems then solutions. They leave us in poverty and struggling to eat, something you just wouldn't understand. Maybe by making them equal, more people could afford them. The nobles and Priest have more than enough money, so why pick on those who don't? It makes us feel as though we are not contributing enough to our country, when in reality, we are literally giving everything we have.
I have a 5 year old daughter who looks up to me. It is heart wrenching to hear her little stomach growl because I am unable to provide a well-balenced diet for her. If you don't get a handle on this situation soon, someone else will.
Sincerely,
A merchant who would like her change
(AKA Leah Curtin)
Dear Loyal Subjects of my country,
ReplyDeleteI have read your "complaints" and a few kind words (yes--just a few). I am frankly indecisive as to what to do at the moment. I shall inform you all tomorrow on my decision in regards to the taxation and deficit crisis.
King Louis XVI
Good day, your Highness King Louis XVI.
ReplyDeleteYou have made inquiries in regards to our opinions of the calling-together of the Estates-General and your methods of taxation. As an educated merchant, I make fair enough money to get by, but not nearly enough to satiate His Majesty's thirst for funds! If I am to have the misfortune of being lumped into the same dung heap as the workers of the land, I shall argue for them as well! Taxes are over our heads--we drown in them, suffocating in debt without hope of ever resurfacing! As famed American Revolutionaries have said, there are only two things certain in life--death, and taxes. But why should we end up in the state of the former because of the latter?! No food, no chance of raising money to pay for your wife's extravagant spending! We make the least money of all, yet we are taxed most heavily!It was high time you called for a meeting of the full Estates-General. Now the better-off of the third estate, the bourgoeisie like myself, may finally defend ourselves and our less-fortunate third estate brethren. It is no longer the age of the gentry, my king. The airs they put on will fall from them like fleas from the ubiquitous street beggars of Paris, leaving them the same as us! And we, the majority that has been so long overlooked and uncared for, will take on new power! Mark my words--the problems with taxation are only the start! Thank God you've gathered us all for discussion!
Yours most humbly,
Monsieur Merchant
P.S.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot continue to tax the members of the third estate so heavily!Increase taxes on the first and second estates if you are in need of more money to throw away on frivolities! They have plenty to spare, unlike us.
Dear King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to hear that you have called us to this meeting in order to discuss the tax issue. I commend you for recognizing the frustration of your citizens. But let's cut to the chase. Us doctors, merchants, bankers, urban workers, writers, and tons more, work laboriously to earn pay!!! We must support our family and children with the money we earn. And now, more than half of our wages are going towards your priests and noblemen who pay little or no taxes, get paid more initially, and don't even do as much work as the Third Estate! This is simply absurd! I strongly disagree in raising taxes although I understand the country's need for money. Perhaps everyone (including noblemen and priests!) could pay less taxes and the government would still be gaining some much needed money. As long as the Third Estate is not contributing ALL of the nations money, my tolerance for you would be slightly higher. As of now, it is difficult for me to be in your presence as you have concluded to such a horrible idea! I once again thank you for this meeting and hope you take my thoughts into sincere consideration.
Sincerely,
A frustrated doctor!
(Lisa Levine)
Sir King Louis XVI,
ReplyDeleteMy highness, I praise you for asking us all to this meeting, it is my honor to be here. It is my understanding that the only way to aid our nation is to raise taxes, and I agree with you. Where else would you find the money to put a stop to this financial deficit? However, with all due respect my good lord, it is abominable to force the least applicable estate to pay the government money that is not even there! Tell me sir, How do you expect to release this nation from it's financial debt if you expect peasants to support it financially when they cannot even support themselves? I am a lawyer, and I receive sufficient pay, enough to care for myself and my family. However I most certainly do not have extra money to pay for the nation's economic downfall! It only makes sense that the wealthy start paying taxes to help their country. Those within the second and third estate such as Nobles and bishops have plenty of money to stop this financial crisis. I understand your need to raise taxes, but please, do give taxes to those who can barely get by. The third estate is in no shape to waste extra money let alone pay extra money that we do not have. It is time to spend wisely my good sir, or else we will find this country in an even worse economic state down the road! I trust you will see to it that only good comes out from this beneficial meeting. This has been an insightful gathering, I bid farewell to you all.
Yours Truly,
An Exasperated Lawyer
Thank you for finally allowing people of the third estate to attend this meeting. I understand that the country needs more money, and I understand your concept of raising taxes. But why make it so unfair to the third estate? We barely have enough money as it is, now you charge us even more, when the first estate pays nothing and the second barely pays anything at all? It doesn't make sense to keep taking money from us who are already poor. Get money from the priests from the first estate, they seem to have plenty of it. If you're gonna raise taxes, AT LEAST make it fair for everyone! We're all struggling as it is and you're only making it worse. 97% of people make up the third estate, meaning 97% of people in your country barely have enough money to provide for themselves. We work for everything we earn, unlike the top two estates and then have to give it back to you, when they give nothing.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
A worthless peasant
(Hannah Perdue)