French Constitution of 1793

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French Constitution of 1793
French Constitution of 1793.
Original title(in French) Constitution de l'an I

The Constitution of 1793 (

wealth redistribution
, the new document promised a significant departure from the relatively moderate goals of the Revolution in previous years.

The Constitution's radical provisions were never implemented, and the government placed a moratorium upon it, ostensibly because of the need to employ emergency war powers during the

French Revolutionary War. Those same emergency powers would permit the Committee of Public Safety to conduct the Reign of Terror, and when that period of violent political combat was over, the constitution was invalidated by its association with the defeated Robespierre. In the Thermidorian Reaction, it was discarded in favor of a more conservative document, the Constitution of 1795
.

History

Chart of constitutional mechanisms

On 11 December 1792 Brissot, Pétion de Villeneuve, Marquis de Condorcet, Vergniaud, Gensonné, Th. Payne, Sieyès, Barère and Danton were commissioned to prepare a new constitution. The first six people were Girondins and enemies of Robespierre.

right of resistance.[3] On 24 April Robespierre proposed a few important changes on property
. On 27 April Robespierre read the Declaration in the Jacobin Club.

Adoption

On 2 June 1793 after an

execution of King Louis XVI. The draftsmen were also placed on the elite Committee of Public Safety to maximize their resources. The Convention deemed their work to be of supreme importance, to be completed "in the shortest possible time."[4]

The work took eight days.

universal male suffrage, the vote was a resounding popular victory for the new constitution, which received the approval of 1,784,377 out of approximately 1,800,000 voters.[8]

The Constitution expanded upon the

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793
.

Contents

Sections 1 through 6 spelled out exactly who should be treated as a French Citizen and under what conditions citizenship could be revoked. All males over the age of 21 who worked, owned land or other property in France, lived in France for over a year, or had family ties to a French person, or those specifically named by the legislative body would be considered citizens. Citizens sentenced to corporal or dishonorable punishment, or who had accepted offices or favors "which do not proceed from a democratic government" would lose their citizenship, which could be suspended if you were under investigation or being held in contempt of court.

Sections 7 through 44 specified the sovereign powers of the People, the Primary Assemblies, the National Representation, of the Electoral Assemblies, and of the Legislative Body. The Primary Assemblies were to comprise between 200 and 600 people, each representing an individual canton, who would vote to accept laws proposed by the Legislative Body, select deputies to the National Representation, and select electors to the Electoral Assemblies. The Constitution made explicit that representation would only be determined by population, not by groups (as in the Estates-General, in which each Estate had its separate representation). In the case of a tied vote in the National Representation, the oldest member would supply the tie-breaking vote.

Sections 45 to 52 laid out specific procedures to be followed the Legislative Body, specifying a quorum of 200 members.

Sections 53 to 55 specified what issues are matters of law, while 56 through 61 establish the path for a bill to become a law. After being drafted and approved by the Legislative Body, the law would be considered a "proposed law" and voted on by all of the communes of France. No debate was to occur until 2 weeks after this distribution, and the bill would become law provided that no more than 1/10ths of the communes voted to voice objection to the law.

Sections 62 to 74 dealt with the Executive Power, which was to be placed in the hands of a 24-member executive council appointed by the Electoral Assembly. These members were to appoint agents to high administrative offices of the Republic.

The Constitution prescribed the relationship between the Executive Council and the Legislative Body, the governing of the Municipalities. It also established the conduct of the Civil Justice System, mandating that arbitrators be elected and that citizens could select arbitrators for their case, and of the Criminal Justice System, mandating trial by jury and representation for the accused. It specified that no citizen would be exempt from taxation and established regulations for military leadership and conduct and foreign relations.

Article 109 stated: "All Frenchmen are soldiers; all shall be exercised in the use of arms."

Condorcet, the main author of the first draft, was accused of federalism had to go into hiding early July.[10][11]

The Constitution declared that France was a "friend and ally of free nations", would not interfere with the government of other free nations and would harbor any refugees from "nations ruled by tyrants". It also forbade the establishment of peace with an enemy that occupied French territory.

Finally, it guaranteed the right to equality, liberty, security, property, the public debt, free exercise of religion, general instruction, public assistance, the absolute liberty of the press, the right of petition, the right to hold popular assemblies, and the "enjoyment of all the rights of man". It declared the Republic's respect for "loyalty, courage, age, filial love, and misfortune". Illegitimate children were recognized.[12]

On 4 August the French Constitution of 1793 passed through the Convention.[a] At the end of August rebellious Marseille, Bordeaux and Lyon had not accepted the new Constitution. According to French historian Soboul, Robespierre was against the implementation before the rebellious cantons had accepted it.[14] By mid-September the Jacobin Club suggested that the Constitution should not be published, on the argument that general will was missing, although an overwhelming majority favoured it.[15]

Suspension

In light of France's internal and external conflicts, the National Convention found sufficient reason to maintain itself as the effective national government, operating in permanent session under emergency powers, until peace was achieved, and postponed the Constitution's implementation. Though the Constitution was overwhelmingly popular and its drafting and ratification buoyed popular support for the

Constitution of 1795, which established the Directory
.

Legacy

The

revolutionaries of 1848 were inspired by this constitution, and after 1870 it passed into the ideology of the Third Republic
as well. The document represents a fundamental and historic shift in political priorities, one which contributed much to later democratic institutions and developments.

Timeline of French constitutions

References

French Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Notes
  1. universal male suffrage, the need for solidarity between the peoples, and the rejection of kings.[13]
References
  1. ^ Revolutionary Ideas: An Intellectual History of the French Revolution ... by Jonathan Israel, Chapter XIII
  2. ^ Walter, G. (1961) Le vaincu du neuf Thermidor, p. 44-48. In: L’œuvre, vol. II, part III. Gallimard.
  3. ^ Walter, G. (1961) Le vaincu du neuf Thermidor, p. 51-52. In: L’œuvre, vol. II, part III. Gallimard.
  4. ^ a b Bruun, p. 51.
  5. ^ R.R. Palmer (1973) The Twelve who ruled, p. 37. Princeton University Press
  6. ^ Crowe, Michael Bertram. 1977. The Changing Profile of the Natural Law. P.243
  7. ^ Gupta, Madan Gopal. 1963. Government of the Fifth Republic of France. P.16
  8. ^ Pertue, M., "Constitution de 1793," in Soboul, A., Ed. "Dictionnaire Historique de la Revolution Francaise," p.283, Quadrige/PUF, Paris: 2005.
  9. ^ "1793: French Republic Constitution of 1793 | Online Library of Liberty". oll.libertyfund.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  10. ^ Jonathan Israel, Revolutionary Ideas: An Intellectual History of the French Revolution ... , Chapter XIII, p. 371–374 Archived 8 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Schama 1989, p. 750.
  12. ^ L. Moore (2007) Liberty. The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France, p. 379
  13. ^ "Aux origines d'une mémoire républicaine de Robespierre, Hervé Leuwers". PCF.fr. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  14. ^ A. Soboul (1974) The French Revolution, 1787–1799: From the Storming of the Bastille to Napoleon
  15. ISBN 978-1405160834. Archived
    from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Kennedy, M. L. "The Jacobin Clubs in the French Revolution: 1793-1795," p.53. Berghahn Books, New York: 2000.
Bibliography
  • Alpaugh, Micah. "The Right of Resistance to Oppression: Protest and Authority in the French Revolutionary World," French Historical Studies 39, no. 3 (Summer 2016), 567–98.
  • ISBN 0-679-72610-1
    .

Further reading

External links

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