Chapter 1

• “Most of the Revolutionary leaders thought of property in pre-modern, almost classical terms… They conceived of it as a source of authority and independence, not as a commodity” (9).

• Masculine and martial virtues were valued for ancient republics but during Enlightenment this shifted as intellectuals believed those virtues weren’t compatible in modern states. Civility and politeness became more important.

• Political elites believed that gentlemen, propertied elite who did not have to work for a living, were the class who was supposed to hold political office but this assumption is challenged with one of the results of the Revolution being a greater number of political offices and a more democratic politics

  • The political leaders at the time believed that all men were created equal in their rights but not in their talents

  • If political leaders were laborers, artisans, merchants, etc they could not be disinterested