Emily,+Connor,+Mike



Charles Dickens: Early Life and Background
 * He was born in Portsmouth England in 1812
 * He had lived extravagantly while his father hemmregged money for his grandiose life.
 * His father went bankrupt and was forced to debtors' prison. As a result, Charles's family's social status and financial stability had diminished and he was forced to work in a industrial factory at the age of twelve.
 * He worked as a court clerk. Afterward, he worked for a newspaper and would write serials - a series of writing publications often in a newspaper- and achieved some success with his twenty month series known as //Pickwick Papers// 1836 and the famous story of //Oliver Twist// in 1837
 * He took a five month vacation to America; afterward he began his literary career and started writing novels.

Charles Dickens: Literary Career
 * Dickens is generally considered the greatest novelist of the Victorian Period.
 * His comic novel //The Pickwick Papers// (1837) made him the most popular English author of his time.
 * After a trip to America, Dickens wrote //The Christmas Carol// (1843).
 * Famous novels by Dickens also include //David Copperfield,// //Bleak House,// //A Tale of Two Cities,// //Great Expectations,// and //Our Mutual Friend.//



Interesting Facts media type="file" key="The_Life_of_Charles_Dickens_(BBC)[1].mp4" width="524" height="374"
 * Dickens nearly became a professional actor in 1832.
 * The man had 9 surviving children!

French Revolution Causes: 1. Population of France is rising drastically – not enough food 2. Economic crises (inflation) 3. Money was spent on wars to fight England 4. Marriage between Austrian & French (Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette) 5. Excessive spending by the monarchy (on wars, supporting the Americans in their revolution, for pleasure) 6. Equality is challenging the Old Regime (see below) 7. Illegitimacy: the people don’t have faith/trust in their govt. or respect for the monarchy 8. The monarchy doesn’t seem concerned about the debt in France 9. People are being influenced by radical ideas (the Enlightenment) 10. Flour shortage 11. Price of bread goes up = few peasants can eat Important: while the nobility and clergy lived

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Quick guide to the Old Regime: A. 1st Estate · Made up of Clergy · Make up 1% of population <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· Enjoy freedom from taxation <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· Owned 10% of land <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">B. 2nd Estate <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· Made up of nobility <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· Make up 2% of population <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· Enjoy freedom from taxation <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· Owned 25% of land <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">C. 3rd Estate <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· Made up of Bourgeoisie & peasants <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">· Make up 97% of population <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Owned 65% of land

3rd Estate was not very happy because the first two estates (which made up only 3% of the population of France) enjoyed freedom from taxation, while the peasants and Bourgeoisie had to pay heavy taxes!

Actions taken by PEOPLE and THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY:

- Maximilien Robbespierre, a lawyer. - Was the voice for the Third Estate - The Legislative body suggested that the king start to ask the nobility to pay taxes. - The King feels threatened by this notion. - The Estates General feels shut out and take their group outside, onto a tennis court. They take an oath, known as the Tennis Court Oath and pledge to not stop meeting until they make a new constitution. - The Estates General becomes the National Assembly. - The King feels threatened and gathers up his forces to disperse and overthrow the National Assembly. - The storming of the Bastille was on July 14th, 1789. - The people knew that the king was trying to suppress them with soldiers and violence, so they decided to fight back by looting armories and invading the Bastille for black powder to fight back. - The Declaration of the Rights of Man mention that the Estates would be abolished and all men are truly created equal. - In 1791, a Constitution limits the power of the king. A Republic form of government is made. The King and Queen are killed and France would never have an absolute monarch again.



Work Cited

"Charles Dickens." //Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online//. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 10 Jan. 2011. <[]>.

Kosch, Karen. "The French Revolution." Pascack Valley High School. Hillsdale, 7 Jan. 2010.