meant no free trade with other countries. So more taxes, on top of their heavy tax burden, had to be paid if the poor wanted to sell their products. What made matters worse for the 3rd Estate, was that they had suffered poor crops and the price of grain was fixed. Ninety-eight percent of the population now lived in near poverty. The people were angry and wanted change so these conditions brought on the Revolution and positive changes to many societies followed.Immediately after the Revolution, life became more equal and democratic. One way it became more equal and democratic was that the 3rd Estate declared itself the National Assembly. They were tired of not being treated as equals to the 1st and 2nd Estate. Soon after that, the 3rd Estate (National Assembly), sat down at what is known as the Tennis Court Oath, to write a constitution making everyone as equal as possible. During the writing of the constitution, the rebellious public of France also stormed the Bastille, a prison that symbolized royal oppression. This action showed the King that the people were not happy with society as it was, and that they were persistent and strong enough to cause a greater commotion within France. The National Assembly began political reforms such as the end of Feudalism, because Nobles renounced their feudal claims, new democratic ideas began to up rise. Some of the new ideas included, that nobles be taxed, nobles must give up their hunting rights, serfdom must end, and all male citizens were eligible for government and church positions. In addition another thing that the National Assembly did to make things more equal was to pass the Declaration of the Right of Man, a document that gave all man rights such as liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. It also gave rights such as freedom of the press and freedom of religion. The Declaration, gave man more equalities for all citizens under the law and the protection of per...
