national assembly reforms Flashcards
How should the constitution be made and how will they ensure the absolute monarchy is expelled
- July/August 1789: system of representative democracy was chosen
- 3 layered gov elected governing body as the legislative, the king and ministers as the executive and an independent judiciary
Why was the new constitution good
meant there were checks and balances in place so that a tyranny would be much less likely (similar to american form of gov)
Why was new constitution bad
judiciary was independent
How many governing chambers were there
Sep 1789- one (assembly)
Why was the governing chambers good
no secret deals and can lead to mass agreement
What type of veto was the King granted
suspensory veto
What other powers did the King have
-retained the right to select and appoint ministers
What was the king’s title changed to and when
Oct 1789- changed to ‘King of the French’
How was the King supported
retained a private income and was granted a civil list of 25 million livres
How often were elections held
held once every two years through a system of electoral colleges
How good were the changes to the election
good- would be frequent elections so not always the same people in government
bad- no restrictions on how many times you can run to be elected which increases the chance of the same people in government
How many people were active citizens
4.3 million men
What was the criteria for being an active citizens
men over 25
lived in France over a year
spoke French
paid equivalent of 3 days labour in local taxes
How did the three tier system work
First tier- voted for the electors (about 500,000) Second tier (electors)- active citizens who had paid equivalent of 10 days labour in local taxes and they elected members of the canton and department assemblies and could become officials there+ elected deputies to NA Third tier (deputies)- had to pay at least a marc d'argent which was equivalent to 54 days manual labor in direct taxation (only about 50,000 men)
What powers did the elected assembly hold
assembly had powers to make laws, collect taxes and decide on issues of war and treaties
good- allows the assembly to hold nearly all the power in regards to the law and economics of the French
bad- lack some powers such as checking and scrutinizing the king
Key church reforms
-abolition of pluralism (the holding of more than one ecclesiastical office at a time as to receive an income in excess of 3000 livres)
-abolition of payment of annates
the tithe and the church’s right to decide its don gratuit was ended
-church assemblies to be held together
-all church property was nationalised
protestants and jews given civil rights
-acceptance of the sale of church land
When was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
12th July 1790
When was the decree which compelled the clergy to take an oath of loyalty to civil constitution passed
27th November 1790
What was the was the nature of the civil constitution of the clergy
all priests and bishops were to be elected to their positions by absolute majority
all clerical posts except for parish priest and bishop were to be abolished
any bishops appointed by the Pope and no the state would not be acknowledged
What was the outcome of the civil constitution of the clergy
created two separate churches- one was the constitutional church which accepted the revolution but was rejected by Rome and the other was made up of clergy who refused to take an oath of loyalty to the state and were regarded as rejecting the revolution
How were church reforms successful
- encouraged equality by giving rights to protestants and jews
- church’s privileged position was essentially abolished
- attempts o gain support for revolution by compelling the clergy to pledge their loyalty to the state
- equality in abolishing the tithe and the don gratuit, the clergy now had no right to decide how much they would pay or demand
- elections within the election were democratic and gave rights to members of community such as peasants
- poor parish priests could make more money by selling their church lands
How were the church reforms unsuccessful
- people thought church reforms were trying to change their religion
- created a divide within the clergy- 55% swore the oath and 45% refused to accept the reforms
- counter revolution movement of the expelled priests, who had refused to take oaths of loyalty grew more support
- large no. of clergy and nobles fled France having lost faith in the Church
- Church was effectively subservient to the State
What were the 3 key principles of the economic restructuring programme
- contribution fonciere- land tax involving no privileges
- contribution mobiliere- property tax/tax moveable goods
- patente- tax of commerical profit
When did the economic restructuring programme come into operation
January 1791
Why was Church land sold
- needed money before introducing a new fairer tax system
- those who bought the land would then have a vested interest in maintaining and stabilising the revolution
- clergy would have to support it/depend on it
How did the assembly reform the tax system
- abolished indirect taxes (aides/gabelles)
- state monopoly increased (state had total control over an industry and set the prices)- tobacco sales increased
- old direct taxes abolished (tailles/vingtiemes)
- tax farming abolished
When did the assembly begin issuing assignats
December 1789
What were assignats
government bonds- purchasers would ‘loan’ money to the government and could exchange the bond for church land (biens nationaux)
What was the problem with the assignats
started being used like paper money for ordinary business transactions and the assembly would use them to pay off debts- led to inflation due to excessive printing of assignats
What did the august decrees abolish
titles
venality
privileges
How were the social changes successful
- fairer system as it provided a basis for reform
- equality in the sense that anyone who had money could buy land
- individual rights and liberties were more protected in law than ever before
- state charities provided fro the poor
- public education
- religious toleration
- many felt they were being heard especially when they complained about the unpopular taxes and then they were abolished
