national assembly reforms

Question 1

How should the constitution be made and how will they ensure the absolute monarchy is expelled

Answer 1

• 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

Question 2

Why was the new constitution good

Answer 2

meant there were checks and balances in place so that a tyranny would be much less likely (similar to american form of gov)

Question 3

Why was new constitution bad

Answer 3

judiciary was independent

Question 4

How many governing chambers were there

Answer 4

Sep 1789- one (assembly)

Question 5

Why was the governing chambers good

Answer 5

no secret deals and can lead to mass agreement

Question 6

What type of veto was the King granted

Answer 6

suspensory veto

Question 7

What other powers did the King have

Answer 7

-retained the right to select and appoint ministers

Question 8

What was the king’s title changed to and when

Answer 8

Oct 1789- changed to ‘King of the French’

Question 9

How was the King supported

Answer 9

retained a private income and was granted a civil list of 25 million livres

Question 10

How often were elections held

Answer 10

held once every two years through a system of electoral colleges

Question 11

How good were the changes to the election

Answer 11

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

Question 12

How many people were active citizens

Answer 12

4.3 million men

Question 13

What was the criteria for being an active citizens

Answer 13

men over 25
lived in France over a year
spoke French
paid equivalent of 3 days labour in local taxes

Question 14

How did the three tier system work

Answer 14

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)

Question 15

What powers did the elected assembly hold

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Key church reforms

Answer 16

-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

Question 17

When was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy

Answer 17

12th July 1790

Question 18

When was the decree which compelled the clergy to take an oath of loyalty to civil constitution passed

Answer 18

27th November 1790

Question 19

What was the was the nature of the civil constitution of the clergy

Answer 19

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

Question 20

What was the outcome of the civil constitution of the clergy

Answer 20

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

Question 21

How were church reforms successful

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

How were the church reforms unsuccessful

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

What were the 3 key principles of the economic restructuring programme

Answer 23

• contribution fonciere- land tax involving no privileges
• contribution mobiliere- property tax/tax moveable goods
• patente- tax of commerical profit

Question 24

When did the economic restructuring programme come into operation

Answer 24

January 1791

Question 25

Why was Church land sold

Answer 25

• 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

Question 26

How did the assembly reform the tax system

Answer 26

• 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

Question 27

When did the assembly begin issuing assignats

Answer 27

December 1789

Question 28

What were assignats

Answer 28

government bonds- purchasers would ‘loan’ money to the government and could exchange the bond for church land (biens nationaux)

Question 29

What was the problem with the assignats

Answer 29

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

Question 30

What did the august decrees abolish

Answer 30

titles
venality
privileges

Question 31

How were the social changes successful

Answer 31

• 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