de Tocqueville - "The June Days"

Alexis de Toqueville asserts that even though there is no concrete evidence of revolution, it is still active in the hearts of the working classes.

• Despite the fact that there are on riots, or visible disorders, a revolution is still at hand. Ideas are brewing in the hearts of men that destined to upset the law, ministry, government, and even society itself. When these ideas are unleashed, they create a formidable revolution.
• The revolution that occurred in June did not seek to to change the form of government, but to alter the order of society. It was not a political struggle, but instead class against class combat.
• This revolution represented the theories of Socialism. The poor people had been told that the wealth of the rich had somehow been stolen from the working class, and that nobody above the working class was fit to govern it. Many believed that the distribution of wealth was unequal and immoral.
• The revolt did not come from a number of conspirators, but an entire section of the population. Women also fought in it and were often the last to surrender. The spirit of insurrection was everywhere.
• The main reason that the revolt had been defeated was its radicalism. No understanding with it was possible, so everyone joined together to defeat it.

Timothy Bulso