How did the National Constituent Assembly reform France between 1789 and 1791?

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Pamela Bolla 13sm

How did the National Constituent Assembly reform France between 1789 and 1791?

In 1789, the first sign of a radical attack on royal power happened. On the 23rd June, three days after splitting from the ‘Estates-General‘, a public promise made by the Third Estate not to disperse until the King had agreed to a constitution and a limitation on his absolute powers was taken in the royal tennis court at Versailles; it was named the ‘Tennis Court Oath’. This was the start of the dismantling of the ancien régime. The summer of 1789 gave rise to an exciting proposal made by the Assembly to break the feudal system. The ‘August Decrees’ abolished: tithes payable to the Church, financial privileges, tax exemptions, the feudal system, seigniorial courts, venality, personal subjection to a lord and corporate and provincial privileges.

These decrees marked the end of noble power and the privilege of birth by establishing a society based on civil equality. Such ideas were supported by the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen’ in 1789 which stated ‘men are born and remain free and equal in right.’ Yet the National Assembly still set about the task of reforming France in late 1789. Though most people waited in anticipation for reforms they hoped would improve their lives, many in the privileged classes prepared themselves for the worst. The Assembly faced many difficult tasks in six main areas: local government, taxation and finance, the economy, the legal system, the Church and the constitution.

The first reform programme addressed the issue of local government. As the August Decrees had swept away provincial estates and municipal corporations, a local administration was vital to maintain food supplies, law and order and taxation. France was divided into 83 ‘départements’ which were then divided into 547 districts, these were further divided into 43,460 communes (or municipalities). The communes were divided into cantons or subdivisions. Officials were elected according to new voting qualifications, partly based on wealth but also their merits. The change had involved thousands of new participants in the national structure of government. Though results were patchy, the structure survived to be developed later. Also, the changes in local administration reflected the decentralisation that had happened in 1789 as control from the centre was loosened.

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The legal system also was reformed in 1790 and was influenced greatly by the principles of the Enlightenment ‘philosophes’. The law was to be fairer, accountable and open to all where in each canton there was to be a ‘justice of the peace’- dealing with cases previously handled by seigniorial courts. There was to be a single legal system and new courts were introduced, run by elected and experienced magistrates and judges. Furthermore, cases had to be brought to court within 24 hours and ‘Courts of Appeal’ were introduced. More humane sentences or punishments were to be had too. ...

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