What were the major reforms of the Constituent Assembly?

Résumé du document

The Constituent Assembly is the major political body of the first part of the Revolution which lasted from the 17 June 1789 to the 30 September 1791. The Third Estate first uses the term "Constituent Assembly" after the Tennis Court Oath, in order to replace the term "Estates General", whose mission was only to reform the fiscal system. A constitutional comity was created the 7th July, and the Constituent Assembly was definitively accepted on 9th July, after a vote of the deputies on a programme proposed by Mounier. While its primary mission is to establish a written Constitution, it also holds legislative power. This is why it decides fundamental and huge reforms for the country, in nearly every domain of political and/or religious life. The Constituent Assembly reforms the administration, justice, economy and even some social aspects of the country. The 26 February 1790 decrees generate uniformity, decentralization and independence for local organizations throughout the kingdom. 83 departments, subdivided into districts and cantons, were created. The administration of the department is provided by a local council, whose members are elected for two years, and chosen among the citizens able to elect deputies (according to their wages). The districts are administrated by representatives, also elected for two years. The General Council of the Commune is essentially composed of notables, and is responsible for the administration of towns. Petty bourgeoisie is preponderant at all scales.

Extraits

[...] On religious matters, the Constituent Assembly adopts essential reforms. First, it grants many rights to minorities living for a very long time in the kingdom: restrictive laws toward Protestants are abolished, and they become eligible, while citizenship is granted to Jews in September 1791, thanks to Clermont-Tonnerre. But the major change concerns the adoption of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which is felt as the main event of the beginning of the Revolution by a large part of the population. [...]

[...] Concerning the second question, a division among the Girondins occurs: some major leaders vote for (like Condorcet, Isnard or Ducos), while other vote against (like Vergniaud, Buzot, Brissot, Lanjuinais, Guadet, or Louvet). The Mountain is united against. Finally, the appeal is rejected, for a few voices. The last question is the most crucial and the most expected. The two propositions of Danton (to proceed by nominal appeal of the deputies and to use the rule of the relative majority) are accepted. [...]

[...] I vote for the death of the tyrant”. Marat, Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne pronounce themselves for the death "in the next 24 hours". Even Philippe-Egalité, under the pressure of the Mountain, votes for the death of his cousin At the end of the vote, there are 387 voices in favour the death (361 voices for death for death with a discussion on its delay) 334 voices in favour of detention or death with delay (286 for detention or banishing for death with delay for irons), and 28 non-voting deputies The Convention rejects the appeal to the people asked by Louis defenders. [...]

[...] That's why the assignats are created on the 19 December. These are goods of Treasury, issued by the State, secured on Church property, and whose worship is 1000 livres for a good, whose rate of interest is 5 percent. In March 1790, the assignats are transferred to municipalities, which must sell them. In April the assignats' rate of interest is reduced and notes of 200 and 300 livres appear. This is the end of the bimetallic money era and the beginning of the paper money era. [...]

[...] Under the impulsion of Barnave, the Constituent Assembly refuses to grant the right of citizenship to the “coloured men”. The legality of slavery is reasserted in decrees of the 8 March and the 12 October 1790. This gives the feeling that the Assembly works for a specific class and makes its popularity decrease. Apart from the equality before taxations and the suppression of indirect taxes (like the gabelle), the main object of financial reorganization is the nationalisation of the clergy property Confronted to a crisis of fiscal entrances and the incapacity to solve it (failures of the loans by Necker), Talleyrand proposes, in October 1789, to take the money where it is which means to nationalize Church property, whose goods are estimated to 2 milliard livres on the whole territory, and whose profitability is approximate 200 Million livres a year. [...]