As a Jacobin, I insist the time is upon us for the immediate execution of the despotic monarch King Louis XVI. The government of Louis XVI is a centralized despotism in which ôThe King is the State,ö (History, p. 1). The welfare of the people has been ignored by the King, with all of his power being used to aggrandize the King, Clergy and Nobility. Under such a system, there is no way to redress any of the many grievances I hold Louis XVI directly responsible for, such as ôNobles being exempt fro taxationö and the ôhigher clergy owning one-fifth of the countryö but paying no taxes, (History, p. 1).
Nobles continue to monopolize the highest appointments in both Church and State, while a majority of the middle-class hold Government issued appointments and are exempt from both ôtaxes and military service,ö (History, p. 1). The peasantry are starving, with the burden of taxes falling most heavily on them. It is a fact that out of every 100 francs earned by the peasant, he is able to keep only 18 francs for himself, (History, p. 1). Louis XVI continues to bankrupt the country with his ill-timed and ill-placed intervention in the American colonies, while the welfare of the French people remains ignored.
Though Louis XVI was forced to give in to the demands of the Parliament of Paris and convene the Estates-General, this action is basically a sham since the Third Estate, the large majority of the French population, has only one vote, the same as the much smaller First Estate (clergy) and the Second Estate (nobility). The Third Estate was even locked out of the Estates-General, forcing a hastily sworn oath to remain together until a new constitution could pass in what has been called the ôTennis Court Oath,ö (History, p. 2). Radical revolutionaries like myself continue to be ôsurrounded by enemies both inside (Royalists) and outside (Coalition forces) of the country,ö (National, p. 1).
While the peasantry starves ...