Let Them Eat Cake!

Did Marie Antoinette really say “LET THEM EAT CAKE?!”

Now, I know what some of you are thinking, “Of course she didn’t, she spoke French!” But, in fact, she didn’t say “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” either. This saying in France actually pre-dated her arrival there by anywhere from about thirty years to as much as a century!

So how did this saying get attributed to Marie Antoinette? Primarily, because the people of France loathed her. If you read up on her history, you’ll find most of this loathing was primarily because she was an easy and very visible target to vent their rage against the French aristocracy on.

🍰 Possible Ingredients for a French Revolution Cake

Ingredient	Possible “Amount”	What It Represents
👑 Absolute Monarchy	5 cups	The king held enormous political power
💰 Government Debt	6 lbs.	France was deeply in debt, including from wars
💸 High Taxes on the Third Estate	5 cups	Common people carried much of the tax burden
⚖️ Social Inequality	7 lbs.	The Three Estates had very unequal privileges
👨‍🌾 Angry Peasants	5 cups	Peasants faced taxes, dues, and economic hardship
🍞 Bread Shortages	6 loaves	Rising food prices created hardship and anger
📈 Rising Bread Prices	4 cups	Ordinary people struggled to afford food
💡 Enlightenment Ideas	6 tablespoons	Ideas about liberty, equality, rights, and government
🗣️ Demand for Political Representation	5 cups	The Third Estate wanted greater political influence
👑 Louis XVI's Weak Leadership	3 cups	Problems of leadership and difficulty addressing the crisis
👸 Marie Antoinette	2 cups	Public criticism of the monarchy and royal extravagance
🏰 Privileges of the First & Second Estates	6 lbs.	Clergy and nobility enjoyed important privileges
🧾 Unfair Tax System	6 cups	Taxes were distributed unevenly among estates
🌾 Poor Harvests	4 cups	Bad harvests contributed to food shortages
🏛️ Estates-General	3 cups	Its meeting helped bring the political crisis into the open
📜 Declaration of the Rights of Man	3 tablespoons	Revolutionary ideas about rights and equality
🇺🇸 American Revolution	2 cups	Provided an example of revolution and republican government
🗞️ Pamphlets & Newspapers	2 cups	Spread political ideas and criticism
😡 Public Anger	7 cups	Growing frustration with government and inequality
🏰 Storming of the Bastille	2 cups	A major early revolutionary event
🔥 Fear of Counter-Revolution	2 cups	Fear that enemies would destroy the revolution