ird Estate revolted against their socioeconomic situation over the next three years. The French Revolution of 1789 also led to the rise of democratic ideas that rippled across continental Europe ("Political Revolutions," 1999, pp. 1-2). Therefore, many of the philosophers were most likely distracted by the political events and invested their energies in the discussion of these events.
At the same time, the numerous significant epidemics in the U.S. and the world from 1657 to 1859 were also representative of the fact that people during those centuries had had to deal with the numerous deaths of family members, including young infants. The breakout of influenza in 1732-33, 1781-1782 and 1847-1848 all over the world, along with the epidemics of measles, smallpox and Yellow Fever in the U.S. at different periods could have undermined the people's interest in child rearing practices ("Epidemics in the U.S.รน1657-1918," pp. 1-2). According to Kruppa (1985), 30 percent of infants died before they were two-weeks old during the preindustrial era. Under sieg
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