ter. One main area that they focused on was the issue of government. Before the enlightenment people had accepted things as they were and based things solely on faith. Because of the line of reason there were several revolutions, including the American Revolution and the French revolution. Ideas began to blossom into reality. People in France began to have ideas because of the actions of Louis. He disliked the english, so he supported the Americans in the American Revolution. He sent soldiers and money to America and put France further in debt. The French people began to like the ideas of freedom, liberty, constitutionalism, and democracy. He was fighting so that the people in America would have a government by the people for the poeple. By fighting for a democracy, he was making his people want a democracy rather than absolutism. So, without even knowing it he was creating his own problem, and what later would kill him. Because of the debt left from earlier reigns Louis XVI tried to tax the nobles. He aked them to pay volutarily, but the Parlement said no. They said that the king cannot have taxation without representation. In 1789, Louis was forced to call for a meeting of the representative body called the Estates General because he was unable to collect taxes or borrow money. it was the first gathering of the estates since 1614. Each of the three estates sent representatives. The first estate was the clergy, which had two-thirds of its people from poorer parishes. They were mostly liberal and against the king. The second estate was the nobility. Two-thirds of the nobility were conservatives and wanted to maintain there priveleges. The other one-third had liberal ideaology and wanted to distribute the wealth. The third estate was the common people, who had picked the educated, richer people to represent them. The members of the third estate refused to follow the old method of voting and finally declared them...
