Property, the foundation of France’s agrarian economy, remained in the hands of the few. Revolutionary France chose stability, and turned the country over to landlords. At the time, you might have thought that if the National Assembly stayed true to its stated goals of radical equality, it would likely need to distribute land equally among all people, including the peasants. Landownership would be legitimized, not by divine rights or lineage, but by a supposedly rational system of contracts (deeds, titles, mortgages, etc.) administered by a central government. But most landlords were allowed to continue to own and collect rent from farmers. The ecclesiastical tithe, a tax levied by the Roman Catholic Church on the French people, was abolished, and most of the church’s land was appropriated.
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