may 5, 1789 - The Estates General

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King Louis XVI called the Estates General for the first time in 175 years because of France's economic crisis. The Estates General was made of 3 estates: Clergy, Nobility, Commoners. Even though the third estate(commoners) made up 97% of the population each estate got one vote, this way the clergy and nobility could out vote the commoners. During the meeting the clergy and nobility voted to raise the taxes on the commoners and nothing could be done about it by the third estate because they only had one vote. This caused an uproar from the third estate and as a result started the ball rolling which would result in the French Revolution.

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