Question

What were goals of the French Revolution? Check all that apply.

Answer 1

Four of the five listed items were goals of the French Revolution:

• 1> writing a constitution
• 2> ending absolute rule
• 4> protecting individual rights
• 5> ending the class system

The only item listed which was not sought by the Revolution in France was "lowering taxes for the rich." I suppose that could be true if by "the rich" you only meant rich merchants of the bourgeoisie class, who had been paying a hefty share of taxes.  But "the rich" also included the whole class of the aristocracy (the "Second Estate") in France, as well as church leaders (the "First Estate"), who were exempt from most taxes.  The 98% of the population that made up the "Third Estate" (commoner class) paid the nation's taxes in support of the aristocracy and monarchy, with the church always viewed as an exempt group.  The Revolution sought to end the absolute rule of the king, end the class system which blocked all but the clergy and aristocracy from true political rights, and protect the individual rights of all French citizens.  To do so, one of their goals as soon as the Revolution began was to formulate a constitution that would protect the rights which they had outlined in their initial revolutionary document, A Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789).