Dbq French Revolution

Way back in the late 1789, a country went through a great change. France had always a monarchical country, as well as the rest of Europe and Great Britain. Despite the long history of being that, the people wanted a change. France had some great kings, but they also had some not so great ones, which I believe may had led them to their decision to revolt. There were many factors that caused them to be upsetted by bad kings, such as higher taxes, loss of land, mistreatment, or just corruptness (not all of the bad kings had these qualities)but, the thing that upsetted them the most, was the feudal system. People of higher classes were growing and the peasants just wanted to be free, they wanted their own land, and not have to work off someone else’s. Anyways, back to the revolt, this was no little revolt, this revolt turned into a revolution. The revolutionaries had good intentions, at first, to make a constitution, (they were inspired by the American revolution) but that didn’t go as planned, and it all went south. Later on, they planned to get rid of the King, and they did, beheading King Louis XVI, but after that, a thirst for blood continued, seeking out the people they despised, the Aristocrats.
Before King Louis XVI was beheaded, he had a son, Louis XVII with

Marie Antoinette in Versailles France on March 27th, 1785. Louis XVII was the 3rd born child from them and bore the title of “Duke of Normandy” as his brother, Louis Joseph was the “Dauphin of France”, meaning that he was the heir to his father’s throne. In the year 1789, Louis’s brother, the dauphin of france died, making Louis XVII (Or Louis- Charles) the new dauphin of france.
As the Revolution was really building up, Louis XVII and his family were forced to flee out of their home in Versailles to the Tuileries palace in France. The revolutionaries were out for them, and they feared for their lives, so after two years, they tried to flee out of the country, and they almost made it out, but they were caught. On August 10th, 1792, a mob came, and took away the royal family to be imprisoned in the Temple (fortress within the city). About a year later,on January 21, 1793 Louis XVII's father was killed by the dreadful guillotine, as many were during this new time called, “The Reign of Terror”. Where many aristocrats, and people against the new thought of government were beheaded in the heart of the cities of France. It was an awful time.
In 1793, Louis was taken from his mother, and put into the care of a cobbler named Antoine Simon and his wife, Mary-Jeanne.

In that same year, his mother was another victim of the guillotine. The royalists (the aristocrats and people for the monarchy) now saw Louis as the King of France, that is, after his father was killed. Yet, he wasn’t able to do anything, because well, he was in captivity, and in fact, treated awfully, and a victim of proposed sexual abuse. The people who were entrusted to others to care for Louis attempted to brainwash, and after they saw that it was successful, he was put into confinement, where he was neglected and his health declined very much, and died from Tuberculosis in

1795.
Now, onto the “Lost Dauphin” part. As you already know, Louis XVII was the dauphin of France (after his brother died) and with the announcement of his death, there wasn’t really any proof that it was him who died. It became a popular believe, in the early 1800’s (after the restoration of the monarchy) that Louis never died, that he had actually escaped and continued life, maybe even went to the America’s. The point is, that no one knew where he might of went. This mystery continued to be believed by some until the 2000’s. In that year, his proposed body was examined, and they proved that it was his heart, and the mystery was deemed not true. That is the mystery of the Lost Dauphin.
Louis XVII went through a lot in his young age, going through, seeing things that no kid should have to see. The French Revolution, the Reign of Terror, it was an awful thing to witness, but it did change history, and it wouldn’t of been the same without it.