WHILE hierarchy had been a cornerstone of medieval and early modern societies, during the Enlightenment literate Europeans began to discuss the desirability of human equality. That ideal carried over into the Age of Revolutions (1775–1824), when some authors and activists specifically pursued economic equality. I will provide a brief survey of plans and policies on both sides of the Atlantic that aimed to introduce some form of equality or at least take the edge off of existing inequality.
In an essay contest organized in the French city of Dijon in 1754, participants had to answer the question “What is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorized by natural law?” Among the contestants was Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was already a well-known writer. His submission was published the following year as Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men. Although he famously presented private property as an...