The Song Peddler of the Pont Neuf Page 26

  On January 24, 1789, the king’s ministers issued procedures to regulate the election of deputies to the Estates General. The country was divided into electoral units based on the three estates and on historic provincial partitions, parishes, and guilds. Despite an historically cold winter, continued food shortages, and rising prices, the people of France were excited about their future, and interest and optimism about the upcoming meeting of the Estates was high. The king instructed his subjects to send him lists of their grievances and suggestions for change—the cahiers de doléances.

  All of France sat down to write.

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