The Revolutionary Rupture (1789-1790) Flashcards
the experience of revolution
right after the Bastille a weekly newspaper Revolutions de Paris was created.
revolution had meant a return to a prior state of things in Renaissance and a sudden and unexpected political event in the 18th century. in 1789 it referred to a unique and singular event.
the dangers and possibilities of a=such a situation were well-known among the deputies and thus they moved fast in trying to establish new social and political order.
the ‘abolition of feudalism’ and the declaration of rights
in August 1789 two decisive steps were taken by the Assembly; they eliminated the dense thicket of special privileges. while they over-exaggerated a bit originally, the main gist remained and France was to be a community of legally equal citizens. they also begun to establish a new order as seen in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. showing this document first made some deputies weary as they thought it would give the populous exaggerated ideas of their rights.
drafter of the declaration did believe in the necessity of the government.
federal constitution
finished in 1787.
Bill of Rights
purposed after the constitution and enacted in 1791 to limit the powers of the government.
equaliberty
a term coined by a modern French philosopher Etienne Balibar that refers to the direct linkage between the ideas of liberty and equality.
the constitutional debates
the size and diversity within the Assembly made it hard for any one deputy to dominate. in November 1789, the Assembly prohibited any of its members from serving as royal ministers. the Assembly itself did not even like the idea of a strong leader and preferred to decide collectively. the king had no real power anymore and neither did his ministers.
finally it was decided that a one-house legislature free to act almost without restriction was to be created. the king had a suspensive veto right.
Maximilian Robespierre
small-town lawyer from northern France. became the leading advocate of the common people’s interests. most known spokesman for the Montagnards. he was known for his speeches on the behalf of the less privileged during the National Assembly. his main allies were Danton, Marat.
monarchiens
a moderate group in the Assembly who dominated the constitutional committee at first. their leaders were reform-minded nobles. their proposals promised the king significant powers. the legislature would have been divided into two houses as in England.
the October days
on 5th Of October a large crowd of women assembled to demand the city government to take action and protect the revolution. accompanied by the National Guard and a reluctant Lafayette they marched on Versailles. king agreed to move himself and the assembly to Paris and on October 6 they set off. now they were much more influenced by the organized popular pressure.
in December 1789, the assembly decided to restrict voting right to active citizens. in March 1790 voted to let the colonies determine voting qualifications for themselves. La Chapelier Law of 1791 was seen as a bourgeois favouritism while the 1790 law did away with the requirement that the defendants be represented by lawyers and a 1791 law allowed anyone to practice any profession.
Oge rebellion
uprising of free colored people that persuaded the assembly to pass a law in May 1791 that granted full citizenship rights to the nonwhite males born to free parents in the colonies.
departments
new administrative divisions in France decided by the Assembly in 1789 which were all similar in size. the assembly also abolished all tolls and customs boundaries and thus made the entirety of France a unified economic market.
expropriation of Church lands and the Assignats
in November 1789 a proposal to put Church’s property into the disposal of the nation was first touched upon. as the lands were too extensive to sell off all at once, the assembly created assignats.
in February 1790 religious orders that were not dealing with teaching and charity were abolished.
assignats
certificates backed by the presumed value of the Church lands that could be redeemed for property when it came on the market. these were issued by the assembly. became a form of paper currency.
the civil constitution of the clergy
created in July 1790. it redrew the boundaries of dioceses to correspond with the department boundaries. it was also decided that departmental electoral assemblies choose cures and bishops.
in the face of opposition the assembly forced every priest to make a public choice; to take a fidelity oath or refuse and get replaced.
this reform was the most important in creating a big division within the nation’s areas and people. this was the first reform where major groups of commoners opposed a revolutionary change.
