Elements Combind that led up to the French Revolution essays

Elements Combind that led up to the French Revolution essays There were many causes of the French Revolution. Political, Social, and economic discontent; Discontent of the Bourgeoisie; Enlightenment ideas; Financial collapse. Before the revolution there were three estates. v The first which Consisted of the higher and lower clergy. v The second, which consisted of the nobility. They owned a quarter of the land in France. They held the highest offices in government and army. v The Third Estate was composed of peasants, city workers, and the middle class. King Louis XV and Louis XVI had extravagant lifestyles. France was spending more money than it was bringing in. Both kings spent the countrys money on unnecessary items. The main job in the government was to protect the country and manage wars. The wars drained Frances money and often France gained nothing from being in the war. In the Seven yrs. war for example France lost large amounts of money, lost the war, and even lost their colonies in North America. Many regarded this loss as humiliation and a show of weakness on their governments part. During the late 18th century the peasant population increased dramatically. This sudden increase called for more land. Land was being distributed smaller and smaller until a farmer could no longer support his own family on the bit of land that he now owned. Peasants could barely do anything with the small plots of land that they were receiving due to the increase in population. Wars cost France a great deal of money. The wars in America left France in debt. To make up for this loss of money the government increased taxes. The weight of these taxes fell heavily on the peasants. King Louis asked the First and Second Estates to pay a land tax but they refused and because of the way government was run. The hardships the peasants faced grew greatly and their resentment toward the no ...

Definition of Horticultural Society in Sociology

Definition of Horticultural Society in Sociology A horticultural society is one in which people subsist through the cultivation of plants for food consumption without the use of mechanized tools or the use of animals to pull plows. This makes horticultural societies distinct from agrarian societies, which do use these tools, and from pastoral societies, which rely on the cultivate of herd animals for subsistence. Overview of Horticultural Societies Horticultural societies developed around 7000 BCE in the Middle East and gradually spread west through Europe and Africa and east through Asia. They were the first type of society in which people grew their own food, rather than relying strictly on the hunter-gather technique. This means that they were also the first type of society in which settlements were permanent or at least semi-permanent. As a result, the accumulation of food and goods was possible, and with it, a more complex division of labor, more substantial dwellings, and a small amount of trade. There are both simple and more advanced forms of cultivation used in horticultural societies. The most simple use tools such as axes (to clear forest) and wooden sticks and metal spades for digging. More advanced forms may use foot-plows and manure, terracing and irrigation, and rest plots of land in fallow periods. In some cases, people combine horticulture with hunting or fishing, or with the keeping of a few domesticated farm animals. The number of different kinds of crops featured in gardens of horticultural societies can number as high 100  and are often a combination of both wild and domesticated plants. Because the tools of cultivation used are rudimentary and non-mechanic, this form of agriculture is not particularly productive. Because of this, the number of people composing a horticultural society is typically rather low, though can be relatively high, depending on the conditions and technology. Social and Political Structures of Horticultural Societies Horticultural societies were documented by anthropologists all over the world, using various types of tools and technologies, in many different climatic and ecological conditions. Because of these variables, there was also variety in the social and political structures of these societies in history, and in those that exist today. Horticultural societies can have a matrilineal or patrilineal social organization. In either, ties focused on kinship are common, though larger horticultural societies will have more complex forms of social organization. Throughout history, many were matrilineal because the social ties and structure were organized around the feminized work of crop cultivation. (Conversely, hunter-gatherer societies were typically patrilineal because their social ties and structure were organized around the masculinized work of hunting.) Because women are at the center of work and survival in horticultural societies, they are highly valuable to men. For this reason, polygyny- when a husband has multiple wives- is common. Meanwhile, it is common in horticultural societies that men take on political or militaristic roles. Politics in horticultural societies is often centered on the redistribution of food and resources within the community. Evolution of Horticultural Societies The kind of agriculture practiced by horticultural societies is considered a pre-industrial subsistence method. In most places around the world, as technology was developed and where animals were available for plowing, agrarian societies developed. However, this is not exclusively true. Horticultural societies exist to this day  and can be found primarily in wet, tropical climates in Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa. Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.