Answer one of them in short.
- In the late seventeenth century to the beginning of the eighteenth century, the common lands, that were meant for the peasants and the workers of the land were abolished, so that the nobles could have more land and thus power. This was done with the “laws of enclosure” in Britain, which increased the pressure on the workers. Now, in class we talked about how this increased criminalization of the poor, meaning that crime on the landlord must have increased significantly. Moreover, the book mentions that many violent uprisings emerged and the migration to city increased as well, leaving the landlords with less workers. After seeing these changes, why do you think that the nobility didn´t just let the commoners keep a reduced part of the common lands to preserve the peace?
- French suffered from a major financial crisis starting in the late seventeenth century after the Seven Year War and they “subsidized the American Revolution and offered weapons, advisers, and naval support”. Now in class we talked about how it wasn´t financially beneficial to increase the taxation on the commoners since the amount of money that they could provide the government with was very limited. Therefore, Louis XVI “attempts to overhaul the tax system”, increasing the taxation on the nobles and eventually those that can afford it. These attempts were shut down by both the major city governments and the powerful nobles. Still, Louis XVI did not give up that easily, ultimately causing the beginning of the revolution. Now, as he tried to meet with the Assembly people kept interfering such as locking the door to the hall. So why didn´t king Louis XVI meet at the palace or increase security to shut those interventions down as they did with the social uprisings of the commoners. Or if that didn´t work, we wouldn’t he address the commoners for help, explaining their benefits for the higher taxation of the nobility.