R2518th

Changing definitions of and attitudes toward social groups, classes, races, and ethnicities within and outside Europe  **1789 Estates General ** ====Over the course of the 18th century, definitions of social groups, classes, and ethnicities changed through Estates General - the representative body of three estates. The Estates General meeting was held in 1789, which was significant because it had not met since 1614. The first estate consisted of the clergy, the second estate included the nobility, and the third estate was the remaining people, the commoners and the peasants. Before the late 18th century, the poor peasants were often mistreated. Moreover, Louis XVI, the French king who favored absolutism, began to tax the third estate because of the downfall of economy in France; however the commoners found a solution to the unfair treatment: rebellion. The third estate gained supports from others lik Abbe Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes, who wrote //What Is the Third Estate?// to state that neglected third estate is the true and pure strength of the nation. The power shifted towards the middle class and the working class as the definitions and attitudes toward social groups and classes began to change. On 1790, nobility was finally abolished as well.====

Works Cited:

McKay, John, Bennett Hill, and John Buckler. //A History of Western Society//. 7th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.