The Sancoulot in the French Revolution

City dwellers always get more attention than rural people in histories of this era. In part that's because we just have better records of their lives. Also because the urban population of france played a central role in the events of the revolution. People streamed into paris from the countryside like immigrants from a foreign country. The bourgeoisie were only a small minority of the total urban population, but their importance to the economy meant that pre revolutionary city life often reflected their tastes and values rather than anyone else's.