After Royal administration had collapsed in 1789 few taxes were collected yet the Assembly needed money quickly. However it was decided that the existing system should continue up to 1791, which was a very unpopular decision. There were outbreaks of violence in heavily taxed areas and eventually the government gave way abolishing the gabelle in March 1790 and nearly all indirect taxes within a year. Church land was sold to provide money for the state who were then responsible for paying the clergy. The new financial system began in 1791. It benefited the poor particularly as the burden of taxation fell on the producers rather than consumers and there were no indirect taxes.
The deputies of the constituent assembly believed in laissez-faire. They introduced free trade, removed price controls and abolished internal tariffs in 1790. In 1791 guilds were abolished so people were not restricted from entering any trade. The assembly regarded the poor as a duty of the state however the scale of the problem was so great that it was impossible to deal with. Therefore nothing was done.
Between 1789 and 1792 all the old law courts, the parlements, seigneurial and ecclesiastical courts were swept away and replaced by a new system based on local government. There was to be a justice of the peace and a jury of 12 citizens to decide on guilt and innocence. These ideas were taken from English law. The quality of French justice was also improved. The penal code was made more humane abolishing torture and mutilation and reducing the number of crimes sentenced to the death penalty. The guillotine was introduced a far more efficient method of execution. From being one of the most barbarous and corrupt systems of justice in Europe the French system became one of the most enlightened.
The Constituent Assembly wanted to create a church that was free from abuses, from foreign control, was democratic and linked to the new system of local government. They had no intention of interfering with the doctrines of the church or with its spiritual functions. In August 1789 the deputies abolished the tithe, annates and pluralism. Many privileges of the church were ended and the taking of religious vows was forbidden. The decree of December 1789 gave civil rights to the Protestants and the Jews in September 1791. However there was no serious conflict with the church until the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in July 1790 accepting the organisation of the church under the administrative framework of local government. This had momentous results, in effect creating two Catholic Churches in France; one constitutional and respected by the revolution but rejected by Rome and the non-juring church.
In conclusion, many measures were taken to meet the demands for reform in France between 1789 and 1792. These covered many areas of society such as system of government, finance, the economy, justice and religion.
