Money+ant+the+Ordinary+Parisian

= Life of Ordinary Parisians in 1700s = Q: In France, what was the financial situation of ordinary citizens in 1700s?



In 1700s, France was very large country in Europe. Its population was about 19 million in 1700 which was more than three times the population of England. Due to the large population, French cities were densely packed, particularly capital, Paris. To explain, in Paris, there were about 500,000 inhabitants. In addition, under the reign of Louis XIV, Paris continuously developed and got bigger.

A lot of nobles and high clergy lived in Paris, and they enjoyed special privileges over the peasants during the late 1700s. Also, wealthy Parisians enjoyed showing off their status on the streets of Paris. However, the lives of ordinary Parisians were very different from nobles or high clergies.

Before the French Revolution, most of the Parisians suffered from tax system which demanded a lot of income. Also, ordinary Parisians did not have any strong power or rights. Overall, artisans, factory workers, and other Paris dwellers were very poor, and the number of jobs were very limited. Due to these problems, French including a lot of Parisians started a revolution against absolute monarchy of Louis XIV. However, during the French Revolution, normal Parisians started to suffer from various problems. To explain further, trade could not work well with other countries. Thus, most industrial workers were laid off from their jobs during the French Revolution due to the fact that texture industry declined. Besides, construction workers were another group of people who lost their jobs in late 18th century. After the citizens won the French Revolution 1799, social structure became ambiguous which indicates that normal Parisians and peasants gained some power. Moreover, the tough tax system was abolished, and nobles’ power got weaker. However, not only nobles, but also the church’s absolute power vanished after the revolution.

Even though French Revolution ended, the Parisians got new problems because of unstable government structure. Also, the Revolution brought conflicts between other countries. These factors prevented France from developing economically. Thus, ordinary Parisians, who expected to become wealthy after the revolution, failed to gain the goal. Overall, even though normal Parisians obtained partial power in the country, the Revolution “ was not producing the hoped-for results.”

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