The purpose of the state of the union address is to provide the opportunity for the
house to address the president about concerns regarding policies proposed by the senate
senate to address the president about concerns regarding policies proposed by the house
president to address congress and the nation about the legislative goals to be accomplished
congress to address the president and the nation about the legislative goals to be accomplished

1. international: struggle for hegemony and empire outstrips the fiscal resources of the state

2. political conflict: conflict between the monarchy and the nobility over the “reform” of the tax system led to paralysis and bankruptcy.

3. the enlightenment: impulse for reform intensifies political conflicts; reinforces traditional aristocratic constitutionalism, one variant of which was laid out in montequieu’s spirit of the laws; introduces new notions of good government, the most radical being popular sovereignty, as in rousseau’s social contract [1762]; the attack on the regime and privileged class by the literary underground of “grub street; ” the broadening influence of public opinion.

4. social antagonisms between two rising groups: the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie

5. ineffective ruler: louis xvi

6. economic hardship, especially the agrarian crisis of 1788-89 generates popular discontent and disorders caused by food shortages.

we will reach the goal of freedom in birmingham and all over the nation,