Let Them Eat Cake: Economics and the French Revolution

Critical thinking skills used in economic analysis can allow kids to interpret history in new and exciting ways. Using the French Revolution, understand how price controls meant to protect the poor actually led to one of the bloodiest democratic revolutions in history. Bloodshed could have been avoided with simple changes to economic policy. How would this understanding change the way they view history? How might this understanding change how they interact in modern politics? Teachers will understand the economic factors that caused the French Revolution and come away with activities to use in the classroom.