The French Social Class System

• Read the slide that describes the three French Estates and then use the following sheets to take notes, decorate the house (estate) so that it accurately depicts the home of each class, decorate each head the way each class would have dressed

• Fill in the tennis ball with words that explain the tennis court oath in your mind

The French EstatesThe First Estate: made up of the religious leaders who were in charge of the Church. While these individuals made up only 1% of the total population, they controlled almost 10% of the land in France.The Second Estate: The second estate of French society was made up of the nobility. These nobles lived on manors which they had inherited. The second estate consisted of about 2% of the total population who owned about 25% of the total land in France.The Third Estate: the largest social group in France was the third estate, making up nearly 97% of the population. Members of this estate had few rights and little political power.

The Tennis Court Oath:In 1789, the Third Estate leaders were locked out of the palace of Versailles and not allowed to participate or have a voice in government. They met at the tennis court outside the palace and agreed that the only way to have a voice in France was for the poor to leave France unless a constitution was written declaring a just set of laws for all the estates. This was called the Tennis Court Oath and is the opening moment of the French Revolution

The First French Estate

Describe the First Estate:

The Second French EstateDescribe the Second Estate:

The Third French EstateDescribe the Third Estate:

The Tennis Court Oath

Describe the Tennis Court Oath: