The French Revolution was caused by various reasons. At the time, the government was facing a serious deficit, which resulted in large taxes. They had spent huge sums of money on the French and Indian War, and the king and nobility consumed a lot of money to maintain their lavish lifestyle. Additionally, there was a severe economic depression going on at the time. The agriculture, manufacturing and trade sectors experienced severe slowdowns. In addition, revolutionary ideas were instilled among the people during the Age of Enlightenment. Together, the government's financial situation, economic depression, and Enlightenment ideas played a central role in sparking the French Revolution. In the late 1800s, the state of the French government was pitiful and corruption was everywhere. France was already heavily in debt after spending large sums of money on soldiers and weapons for the French and Indian War. Additionally, the king and members of the nobility were wasting government money on frivolous luxuries. The government's huge debt led to a fiscal crisis. At that time, France was divided into three areas. The first estate was composed of the clergy, the second estate was the nobility, and the third estate was composed of the middle class, peasants, and urban workers (Document 2). The first two estates represented three percent of the population and owned almost half of the land; however, only third parties are taxed. To cover the deficits, the French in the third estate were brutally taxed. Peasants and the middle class had to pay unjust feudal taxes, land taxes, food taxes, and taxes to the king, lord of the manor, and church. Meanwhile, the first two estates were given a pass despite their great wealth (Doc...... middle of paper...... heavily in debt after the French and Indian War and the corruption of the monarch and the nobility This led to a fiscal crisis and the king began to abuse his power by specifically taxing only the third estate, the poorest part of the population. The situation slowly worsened as the population dwindled. economic activity and the agricultural revolution that caused many people to lose their jobs. People were already angry about taxes, and the lack of food and work only made people more excited. Enlightenment convinced people that the government was corrupt and denying people their natural rights, the financial situation of the government which led to the fiscal crisis, the slowdown in economic activity and the ideas of the Enlightenment were the three reasons. most vital to the origin of the French Revolution..