The hallmark of the French Revolution was the Terror, wherein the nobility (and their families and their associates) were savagely put to death; IIRC often w/o any legal justification or forms (i.e. trials or defenses).
“Terror is nothing else than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible.”
“The government in a revolution is the despotism of liberty against tyranny.”
— Maximilien Robespierre
If/when we revolt against our ruling caste
, it will be hard to reign in emotions and ensure that they are given the proper trials; there is more than ample evidence against them.
RE ruling caste:
I’ve often wondered what happened to the Tory / Loyalist families in this country (the ones that stayed put) after the American Revolution came to an end. I guess it’s pretty easy to speculate... but I haven’t seen anything written of it approaching the French Revolution’s Terror campaign.
Interesting note: one of early America’s greatest heroes, Robert Rogers (of Rogers Rangers fame) basically was erased from history for decades because he remained loyal to the Crown. Yet his exploits during the French-Indian War - especially feats like the raid on the Abenakis at St. Francis ultimately helped create us as a country, and men that he trained helped to win the war against the Brits for our independence. He wasn’t brought back into the history books until years later, by the American historian Francis Parkman.