A message from Mr Frame:Please could you announce to your History and Politics classes
that I am running a session on reading History or Politics at University on
Tuesday 2nd December at 1.30 in P4. Students who are interested should let me know and I will get them into lunch at 1pm.
B&B and HR
Main aims of the Constituent Assembly• Based on ideas of Declaration of Rights of Man and
Citizen.• Focus on Enlightenment idea of meritocracy.• System should be:• Uniform• Decentralised• Representative• Humanitarian
Local Government Reforms• Strengthen power of local authorities,
rather than rely on central power in Paris.• Introduce democracy at all levels and
restrict absolute power of the King.• 83 Departments, 547 Districts, 43 360
Communes (grouped in Cantons).• More people could vote (but still restricted
to wealthier citizens): active vs. passive.• All posts elected rather than appointed by
1790 – heavy workload of administration, which many rural communes struggled to deal with.
Local Government Reforms•Winners: Urban communes; middle classes. •Losers: The King, rural communes.
Taxation and Finance Reforms• 2 Nov 1789 – Sale of Church land (biens
nationaux) began to provide funding for the state. Clergy now funded by the CA.• Jan 1791 - Indirect taxes abolished. Land
tax to be paid by all citizens introduced, however this was restricted by failure of CA to carry out land assessments.• Despite problems, burden of taxation fell
on producers rather than consumer e.g. tax on movable good and on commercial profits. It was much fairer than the Ancien Régime.
Taxation and Finance Reforms
•Winners: Consumers/working classes; bourgeoisie/richer labourers who could afford to buy church land. •Losers: The Church; privileged classes.
Economic Reforms• Aug 1789 – free trade in grain introduced to boost
economy; Oct 1790 – internal tariffs abolished.• 1791 – Trade Guilds abolished to encourage competition
and boost economy; striking made illegal (Le Chapelier Law).• Failure to provide adequate benefits for French poor.
Economic Reforms•Winners: Employers; consumers. •Losers: The poor; working classes.
Reform of the Legal System• Consistent system of justice established
throughout France i.e. everyone tried in the same sort of court; everyone subject to the rule of law.• Judges were elected rather than appointed.• More human penal code – number of
crimes punished by death reduced.• Mar 1792 – Guillotine introduced as more
human method of execution. Used on all convicted criminal regardless of status.
Reform of the Legal System•Winners: French society. •Losers: Privileged classes.
Church Reforms• Aimed to improve standards in Church life
and become more independent from the Pope.• Aug 1789 – Church privileges abolished (in
line with reforms in all other areas).• 12 Jul 1790 – Civil Constitution of the Clergy
introduced: • Linked Church to new administrative districts.• Church officials elected rather than appointed.
• 27 Nov 1790 – Oath of Loyalty introduced by CA: divided French clergy and created huge conflict. Clergy forced to choose between Revolution and loyalty to the Pope. Many French people felt that the CA was trying to change their religion.
Church Reforms•Winners: Theory of fair society.•Losers: The Church; CA.
The National (Constituent) Assembly was successful in reforming France 1789-91
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