It was under Louis XVI that the French Revolution would occur. To be fair, the roots of the French Revolution can be traced back far before Louis XVI's reign. As King, Louis XVI substantially aided the American colonies in their fight for independence, and it was ultimately due to French aid that we won our independence. However, France gained very little from the war other than stacks of new debts which were piled right on top of the already sky-high national debt. Louis XVI, unlike other kings, was not extravagant and believed that with restricted spending and higher taxes he could effectively control and pay down the debt. He began by asking the nobles and clergymen to pay a minimal tax, although the commoners would still pay substantially higher taxes. The nobles and clergymen refused, and the commoners logically feared that the King would seek to impose higher taxes on them to help pay off the debt. This largely led to the French Revolution. The French Revolution called for the abolishment of the monarchy and the establishment of a democratic legislature to make France's governing decisions. Louis XVI himself was open to the ideas of the Revolution. The King stated that he would accept reduced monarchial powers, but insisted that he be allowed to remain in power and have a minimal role in the government process. Although the leaders of the Revolutionary government first agreed, they largely shut the King out of the decision-making process. They saw the King as the last remaining signs of tyranny, and thus refused to work with him. Meanwhile, the violent conflict between those loyal to the King and those that believed in the ideas of the Revolution was intensifying. Louis XVI publically and privately pleaded with the counter-revolutionaries (those loyal to the king) to halt their attempts to overthrow the new democratic government. He believed that if he could bring about peace, it would give him a legitimate claim to the restoration of his monarchial power. Despite the king's pleas, the fighting continued, and the King attempted to flee France. He was captured and brought back as a prisoner. He was tried and convicted of treason and beheaded in January of 1793. The death of Louis XVI wiped away the last traces of the old feudal monarchy and gave the legislature absolute power. Essentially, with the murder of the King, the revolutionaries had traded one form of tyranny (absolute power of the monarchy) for another (absolute power of the legislature). The legislature, led entirely by revolutionaries, would soon embark on a Reign of Terror that would see 40,000 slaughtered for speaking out against the Revolution. Ironically, it was the idea of free speech that the revolutionaries were fighting for. Overall, the French Revolution was a disaster. With the murder of Louis XVI, who genuinely seemed to want a compromise, the government was now in an incredible state of instability. The unstable government and social uprising in France would pave the way for the rise of Napoleon. As for Louis XVI, he was a man who had no role in the root causes in the Revolution, yet his blood was spilled over it. Unlike his predacessors, he sought a solution for France's monetary problems, but the damage had already been done by this time. He was wrongfully and ruthlessly murdered and any hopes for a compromise on France's governmental future died with him.