Reforms of the NCA 1789-1791 Flashcards
What did the August Decrees state
-Feudal obligations were abolished
-Tithe abolished
-Abolition of venality
-Corvee royale abolished
-all privileges abolished e.g. don gratuit
-Abolished the Estates System
When was the Declaration of Rights of Man and citizen passed and what did it outline?
-26 August 1789
-All men are equal
-Freedom of Speech
-Religious toleration
-unversal male suffrage- sovereignty to the nation
-Rule of Law
-Separation of powers
Why did the NCA seek religious reforms?
-As the philosophes spoke about how religon was limiting society (Voltaire and Diderot)
-The church’s wealth could be stripped from them and used to solve the financial issues in France
What religious changes were brought in between August 1789 - June 1790 that weakened the wealth of the church?
-They payment of annates was ended
-The tithe and right of the church to decide its own taxation in the don gratuit were abolished
-All church property was nationalised from 2 November 1789
What did the NCA do with nationalised church land?
-It was sold to the third estate
-25% bought by 1794
-peasants bought 48% of land and bourgeoisie bought 52%
What religious reform granted religious toleration?
-Full citizenship granted to Protestants (Dec. 1789)
-All jews granted citizenship by Sep. 1791
What was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and when was it passed?
-12 July 1790
-It decreased the number of Bishops from 135 too 83 as only 1 bishop per departement
-Clergyman would become state officials with new salary structure
-Bishops and priests would be elected
When was Louis forced to accept the CCC
-December 1790
What was the Clerical Oath and when was it enforced?
-27 November 1790
-It meant that all Clerics would swear an Oath to the NCA and the state, not the Pope
How many bishops took the oath and what percentage of parish clergy took it?
-7/160 bishops too the Oath
-55% of Parish Clergy took the Oath but this varied by region
What was the Papal bull ‘Charitas’ of April 1791 and why had the Pope not done this before?
-The Pope openly announced his rejection of The CCC and clerical Oath and suspended those who took the Oath
-He had not done this before as the Pope was involved in negotiations with the French over his papal territory at Avignon which France wanted to annex
What was the NCAs reaction to the Papal Bull?
-Occupied Avignon and after plebiscite it annexed it to France
-Declared in November 1791, that all refractory priests were counter-revolutionaries and were stopped from using religious buildings and income stopped
When was a) religious dress banned and b) when could refractory priests be deported?
-a) religious dress banned in April 1792
-b) refractory priests could be deported from May 1792
What was the impact of the church reforms
-France became geographically split and very divided as Paris and its neighbours accepted it but peasantry in very catholic areas
What was Louis’ powers under the new 1791 constitution?
-King given a 4 year suspensory veto of legislature
-The king would be allowed to select ministers to form a cabinet but these would not be allowed to sit in the assembly
-Louis would be called “King of the French” not “King of France”
-King given 25m livres (20m reduction)
-Lost power of lit de justice and lettre de cachet
-Can still declare war and peace
When would elections be held what system would it use?
-Elections held every 2 years
-It would use an indirect voting system to vote in 745 deputies
What was the Active and Passive citizen distinction?
-Active citizens could stand as deputies and vote
-Limited to taxpaying males over 25- 60% of males
-To stand as deputies youd have to pay a silver mark in taxes (50,000 people)
-Passive citizens could not vote- 40% of male pop.
Why did the NCA seek reforms to local government?
-Wanted the decentralisation of power to prevent a return to monarchical absolutism
What reforms were made to the local government?
-83 departements of equal size replaced generalities
-Departements were divided into 400+ districts which was divided into 43,370 communes
What were some limitations with reforms to the local government?
-Very decentralised and there was no central control from the NCA on all the departements which meant regional differences could form
-Income qualifications for service and voting meant local government fell into the hands of the bourgeoisie.
-Problems arose in rural communes where there were too few literate people to fill the offices required.
When was the gabelle abolished?
March 1790
What 3 taxes replaced the taille and the vingtieme in 1791?
-Land tax
-Poll or property tax
-tax on commerical goods
Was the NCA’s economic reforms enlightened?
-Yes as everyone liable to the taxes and there was no exemption; No as the amount that people paid varied in departements
-Yes as most taxes paid by bourgeoisie (no taxation without representation);NO as land tax was difficult to establish so not fair
What was the La Chapalier Law and when was it?
-14th June 1791
-freedom of association was limited and workers were forbidden from conducting strikes or even forming trade unions
