Inhabitants of Montjoye-Vaufrey

The French economy in the eighteenth century was based heavily on the feudal system, in which a feudal lord or seigneur owned large swaths of land on which peasants worked in exchange for portions of the crops. Peasants became increasingly disillusioned with the feudal system in the 1780s. In the following viewpoint, taken from a cahier (letter) written to finance minister Jacque Necker by the inhabitants of the feudal lands in Montjoye-Vaufrey, the peasants argue that their seigneur has exploited them economically. According to the peasants, the feudal lord demands excessive tithes, wrongfully appropriates communal lands, and compels his workers to cater to his whims. The feudal system was abolished on August 4, 1789.

[This is a] statement concerning the unjust, onerous, and humiliating dues and other unheard of burdens which the undersigned inhabitants of the...