of those men reached adulthood before having lost at least one of their parents (Darnton 27). Weisner‘s statistics showed that the months that had the highest mortality rate were February through April, and the month of October (111). October was during harvest time, and perhaps people had the most contact with each other, causing them to be more vulnerable to spreading and catching diseases. During February to April, temperatures were freezing, which would lead to death by the cold or by starvation. Another statistical view shows the infant and child mortality rate in France during the 17th and 18th centuries vary from 580 to 672 deaths out of every one thousand births, due to sanitation and lack of decent technology (110). The eighteenth century was a time of revolution in which even poor peasants were given the opportunity to excel and become wealthy, but the struggling peasants at the bottom rarely saw changes, in which their life was a constant battle. These peasants were treated as mere cattle, and therefore went through tremendous hardships and struggle. These men, women, and children faced poverty, malnutrition, and death in their everyday lives. Through these struggles a new culture arose that represented the majority of France....
