What caused the French revolution Research Paper

What caused the French revolution - Research Paper Example On the other hand, â€Å"the nobility were exempt from taxation; the clergy were entitled to the privilege of taxing themselves, in the form of free gifts†¦ [and all these were for the] benefit of the privileged classes, and to the detriment of the people† (Mignet 4). Such prevailing conditions, which did not change for many generations, created a deep-rooted resentment in the minds of the common people. On 14th July 1789, few people from the working classes and a handful of soldiers took control of the famous prison of Bastille in Paris, which soon changed the entire history of France. A number of underlying factors triggered the seizing of Bastille, of which the chief ones were, persistently increasing taxes (the economic factor), the Old Regime (the social factor), and to a certain extent philosophical inspiration from Enlightenment theories and the American Revolution. However, the more apparent and immediate reasons that triggered the revolution were increasing price s of food items (bread), removal of third estate from the meeting hall and Louis XVI’s ordering of Swiss guards into Paris. Here the most important factors were the economic and social causes related to the Old Regime. France at that time was socially categorized into three different estates. The first estate comprised of high-ranking religious leaders or clergymen, who had the privilege of paying no taxes to the monarchic government. The second estate comprised of nobility that were primarily landowners and paid no direct taxes. The third estate, which comprised of the rest of the population (the urban middle class, the urban lower class, and the farmers), paid all the taxes. Thus, the ones that had the least, paid the maximum taxes (royal taxes, feudal taxes, and even work related taxes) and through this process lost almost half of what they earned as wages (Frey and Frey 2). During this time, France suffered a series of defeats against Britain in various battles, which pla ced a huge burden of debt on France. It caused a fall in public morale and increasing social unrest owing to the increasing economic pressure on the common people (pressure to increase the revenue to service the debt). The third estate that was already paying high taxes was further burdened with more, and with the second estate refusing to pay any form of taxes, the situation turned worse. With expenditure being more than the revenue, King Louis XVI decided to hold all reforms and did nothing to improve the worsening situation (Frey and Frey 3). Another factor that triggered the French revolution was the American Revolution, which showed how absolute monarchy could be overthrown and democracy established. The third important factor was the various philosophical teachings and writings of this era (the era of Enlightenment), such as, writings of John Locke, a philosopher whose works advocated freedom from persecution. An increasing number of French citizens became influenced by notion s of natural rights (humanitarianism, fraternity, liberty, and equality) and the rather ambiguous notions of State based Contract theory, as conceptualized by  Turgot, Diderot, Voltaire, other  social scientists and philosophers of  the Enlightenment era (Peyre, 63-65). The  American Revolution  showed that it was actually possible to use Enlightenment theories to make a government function effectively (Mackey, 57). Some of the American revolutionary leaders, such as,  Benjamin Franklin  had spent a great deal of time in Paris and mixed liberally with the intellectual society in France. Besides this, long-term contact between French army and American revoluti

The Readiness of Children to Step into the Classroom :: Child Development Education Psychology Essays

The Readiness of Children to Step into the Classroom Are parents ready to red shirt there children? No, I’m not talking about sports but kindergarten. Many parents are facing the issue of whether or not their children are ready for the big step into the classroom. Before entering kindergarten children need to develop their perceptual skill (depth perception). As humans we need depth perception for detection, discrimination, and identification of objects. Depth perception is a difficult topic to access due to the fact that the world is three dimensional and human visions are two dimensional. When transmitted to the brain, an image on the retina is not a picture; rather it is a pattern of nerve impulses, aroused by a light pattern that terminates in the visual area of the cerebral cortex. Through some activity of the occipital lobes of the cerebral cortex, human beings apparently perceive the external world in a three-dimensional manner that is correlated with the retinal-image pattern in some orderly manner. Psychologists are particularly interested in the cues which enable people to perceive depth and distance. Stimulus patterns for arousing a depth experience occur when individuals are given specific cues. The cues may be monocular, effective when using one eye as well as two, or binocular, requiring the usage of both eyes. The cues may also be psychological, depending only on the visual image, or physiological, originating from the structure and movement of the eyes. In this paper I will explain perceptual development and how it relates to animals, infants, and blind infants. Infancy is the period of life in which development occurs most rapidly. Development occurs in a variety of different ways and has been categorized with the study of infancy into physical, motor, and perceptual development. Each of these forms of development occurs simultaneously and progress in each facilitates the progress of the other. There are many studies I will assess to further explain how they contribute to explaining the development of perception. In developing direct perception one must be able to directly perceive what the objects and surfaces in the environment are perceived as an action of affordances. An example of an affordance is stair climbing. Walking down a flight of stairs as an 18 month and adult are different. As an individual grows, perception of affordances might change. When climbing the stairs a person must be able to judge leg length to judge how they climb the stairs.

Spending Time with Friends/Spending Time with Family

Can you imagine your life without your family or your friends? Well, whether you agree or disagree, human beings instinctively tend to socialize with others. However, who would you spend more time with, is it your family or your friends? As we know we can’t live without either our families or our friends because they represent a huge part of our lives. In this essay we will compare and contrast between spending time with family and spending time with friends in terms of attitude, places and discussions. No one can deny that attitudes differ between spending time with family and spending time with friends. When we spend time with our families we tend to be intimate, gentle and responsible. Even our behavior is appropriate and our acts are limited. For instance, when we go out with our family to a movie or to a dinner, we won't be able to act foolish and we will be restrained from doing exciting stuff; as our actions will be judged by our family members. But when we hang out with our friends we feel less intimate, more crazy, and liberated , also our behavior becomes frizzy and we act our ages or even younger . For example, with our friends we can tell funny jokes to each other, knowing that none of them will be insulted or degraded because friends tend not to take things seriously. So that’s how our attitude differs. The places we hang out with family and friends are also different. The places where you head to with your family are calm, and not crowded, such as beaches, parks, family restaurants and family resorts. The places that we go to with our family to spend some quality time together. On the other hand the places where we go to with our friends are more crowded and full of life like; movie theatres, shopping malls and night clubs. With friends we go to places that allow us to have fun and enjoy our time as much as possible. That's how the places that we go with our family and friends are different. Another difference is that the topics that you discuss with our family and the ones that we discuss with our friends are dissimilar. For instance, with your family you talk about what happened with you when you were in a particular place on a particular day. Also, you discuss more mature topics that benefit you like; how to manage time, which university to apply for, how to invest your pocket money and open an account in the bank so that you can use it in emergencies, how to solve complicated problems and many other things that are beneficial for you. By contrast, with your friends you discuss topics that you have common interest in, such as; fashion, movies, study, work, simple problems and other things that may be immature and non beneficial for you. And that’s how the discussions contrast among family and friends. Finally, our attitude differs from being with our families than being with our friends similarly with the places that we visit or the topics that we discuss. However, it’s the undeniable fact that we can never live without our families or our friends.

The Basics Supply and Demand

Supply and Demand analysis is relatively straightforward once the terminology is understood. The important terms are as follows: PriceQuantityDemand and Demand CurveQuantity DemandedSupply and Supply CurveQuantity SuppliedEquilibriumSurplusShortage Basic supply and demand analysis is done one of two ways - either graphically or numerically. If done graphically, it is important to set up the graph in the standard form. The Graph Traditionally economists have placed price (P) on the Y-axis and quantity (Q), as in quantity consumed or quantity purchased/sold on the X-axis. An easy way to remember how to label each axis is to remember P then Q, since the price (P) label occurs above and to the left of the quantity (Q) label. Next, there are two curves to understand - the demand curve and the supply curve. The Demand Curve A demand curve is simply a demand function or demand schedule represented graphically. Note that demand is not simply a number - it is a one-to-one relationship between prices and quantities. The following is an example of a demand schedule: Demand Schedule $10 - 200 units$20 - 145 units$30 - 110 units$40 - 100 unitsNote that demand is not simply a number such as 145. The quantity level associated with a particular price (such as 145 units $20) is known as a quantity demanded.A more detailed description of the demand curve can be found at: The Economics of Demand. The Supply Curve Supply curves, supply functions, and supply schedules are not conceptually different than their demand counterparts. Once again, supply is never represented as a number. When considering the problem from the point of view of the seller the quantity level associated with a particular price is known as quantity supplied. A more detailed description of the supply curve can be found at: The Economics of Supply. Equilibrium Equilibrium occurs when at a specific price P, quantity demanded quantity supplied. In other words, if there is some price where the amount buyers wish to buy is the same as the amount sellers wish to sell, then equilibrium occurs. Consider the following demand and supply schedules: Demand Schedule $10 - 200 units$20 - 145 units$30 - 110 units$40 - 100 units Supply Schedule $10 - 100 units$20 - 145 units$30 - 180 units$40 - 200 unitsAt a price of $20, consumers wish to purchase 145 units and sellers which to provide 145 units. Thus quantity supplied quantity demanded and we have an equilibrium of ($20, 145 units) Surplus A surplus, from the supply and demand perspective, is a situation where, at the current price, quantity supplied exceeds quantity demanded. Consider the demand and supply schedules above. At a price of $30, quantity supplied is 180 units and quantity demanded is 110 units, leading to a surplus of 70 units (180-11070). Our market, then, is out of equilibrium. The current price is unsustainable and must be lowered in order for the market to reach equilibrium. Shortage A shortage is simply the flip-side of a surplus. It is a situation where, at the current price, quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied. At a price of $10, quantity supplied is 100 units and quantity demanded is 200 units, leading to a shortage of 100 units (200-100100). Our market, then, is out of equilibrium. The current price is unsustainable and must be raised in order for the market to reach equilibrium.Now you know the basics of supply and demand. Have additional questions? I can be reached via the feedback form.