Abstract
This paper examines how, in August of 1789, the National Assembly, in response to peasant revolts, abolished the feudal system and created a declaration of rights. It looks at how the parish cahiers and the actions of the peasants suggest they were more concerned with subsistence than feudal issues, with anti-feudal riots being the result. It also looks at how the bourgeois class, in contrast, were more concerned with social mobility and the protection of property. It attempts to show how the decrees of August, 1789, while benefiting the peasants in some real ways, were essentially designed to promote the interests of the moneyed classes.

From the Paper
"Less concerned with subsistence, the Third Estate was able to voice its grievances in the cahiers much more effectively than the peasantry. While the leaders of the Third Estate shared many demands with the peasants, particularly taxation, the frequency and emphasis of other specific concerns stands in contrast to the parish lists. It is often noted that the bourgeoisie of the Eighteenth Century generally aspired to join the nobility. This desire was fostered largely by a lack of social mobility available to the Third Estate16 and was a frequent issue in the cahiers. The Third Estate of Carcassonne, for example, suggested that "the general or particular regulations which exclude members of the Third Estate from certain positions, offices, and ranks which have hitherto been bestowed on nobles either for life or hereditarily [should be abolished]."17 Another major concern of the Third Estate was the payment of the franc-fief, a tax on land passing from a nobleman to a commoner. This tax, argued the bourgeoisie, interfered with the sale of property."

Tags: cahiers, citizen, declaration, feudalism, french, revolution, rights