We discussed a few things today relating to France's Revolution, which took place in 1788-1789. We discussed "Lady Liberty" and her "wardrobe malfunction," how much many French people love Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and "death by Guillotine" (pronounced "GIH-yoo-teen").
We discussed several reasons for the French to be angry, particularly the 97% of French people living in mostly terrible poverty. The French social structure was called the "3 Estates" and the French people were represented in the Estates-General (like their Congress or Parliament) as shown in the image below. (Note: if you were a French citizen of the 3rd Estate, what would you think about how many representatives you had in the Estates-General as compared to the other Estates?)
Some other causes of the French Revolution were related to the prices of bread, high taxes, and the anger the French poor felt towards their royalty, especially, Queen Marie Antoinette... or as they called her, "Madame Deficit." When bread prices rose so much (80% of people's income, as shown below), the women of Paris stormed the palace at Versailles, looking for Marie Antoinette, whom they viewed as a symbol of the reason for their suffering.
Tomorrow, we will continue with the results of the French Revolution and learn about the Haitian Revolution, as well.
