Constitution of 3 May 1791

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Governance Act
First page of original manuscript of Constitution of 3 May 1791, registered (upper right corner) on 5 May 1791
Created6 October 1788 – 3 May 1791
Ratified3 May 1791; 232 years ago (1791-05-03)
LocationCentral Archives of Historical Records, Warsaw
Author(s)
Full text
Constitution of 3 May 1791 at Wikisource
deputies will swear to uphold the Constitution. Background: the Royal Castle
, where the Constitution has just been adopted.

The Constitution of 3 May 1791,

Convocation Sejm of 1764 and the ensuing election that year of Stanisław August Poniatowski
, the Commonwealth's last king. It is the second constitution in history, after that of the United States.

The Constitution sought to implement a more effective

Imperial Russia and the Targowica Confederation of anti-reform Polish magnates to defeat the Commonwealth in the Polish–Russian War of 1792
.

The 1791 Constitution was in force for less than 19 months.[2][3] It was declared null and void by the Grodno Sejm that met in 1793,[1][3] though the Sejm's legal power to do so was questionable.[3] The Second and Third Partitions of Poland (1793, 1795) ultimately ended Poland's sovereign existence until the close of World War I in 1918. Over those 123 years, the 1791 Constitution helped keep alive Polish aspirations for the eventual restoration of the country's sovereignty. In the words of two of its principal authors, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj, the 1791 Constitution was "the last will and testament of the expiring Homeland."[c]

The Constitution of 3 May 1791 combined a monarchic republic with a clear division of executive, legislative, and judicial powers. It is generally considered Europe's first and the world's second modern written national constitution, after the

United States Constitution that had come into force in 1789.[3][d]

Background

Main articles:
History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1764–95)

Polish

contractual state embodied in texts like the Henrician Articles and the Pacta conventa; the concept of individual liberties; and the notion that the monarch owed duties to his subjects. This system, which primarily benefited the Polish nobility (szlachta), came to be known as the "nobles' democracy."[6]

End of Golden Age

The 1791 Constitution was a response to the increasingly perilous situation in the

Sejm, in 1661 John Casimir—whose reign saw highly destructive wars and obstructionism by the nobility—correctly predicted that the Commonwealth was in danger of a partition by Russia, Brandenburg and Austria.[14]

As the Sejm failed to implement sufficient reforms, the state machinery became increasingly dysfunctional. A significant cause of the Commonwealth's downfall was the liberum veto ("free veto"), which, since 1652, had allowed any Sejm deputy to nullify all the legislation enacted by that Sejm.

confederation" or belonged to one was a contrivance prominently used by foreign interests in the 18th century to force a legislative outcome.[18]

By the early 18th century, the

Golden Freedoms") would be enacted.[19] The ineffective monarchs who were elected to the Commonwealth throne in the early 18th century,[20] Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland of the House of Wettin, did not improve matters. The Wettins, used to the absolute rule practiced in their native Saxony, tried to govern through intimidation and the use of force, which led to a series of conflicts between their supporters and opponents—including another pretender to the Polish throne, King Stanisław Leszczyński.[20] Those conflicts often took the form of confederations—legal rebellions against the king permitted under the Golden Freedoms—including the Warsaw Confederation (1704), Sandomierz Confederation, Tarnogród Confederation, Dzików Confederation and the War of the Polish Succession.[20] Only 8 out of 18 Sejm sessions during the reign of Augustus II (1694–1733) passed legislation.[21] For 30 years during the reign of Augustus III, only one session was able to pass legislation.[22] The government was near collapse, giving rise to the term "Polish anarchy", and the country was managed by provincial assemblies and magnates.[22]

Other reform attempts in the Wettin era were led by individuals such as

Stanisław A. Szczuka, Kazimierz Karwowski and Michał Józef Massalski; these mostly proved to be futile.[16][20]

Early reforms

high treason
, per the Constitution's Article VII and section six (sexto) of Article VIII, and per the Declaration of the Assembled Estates, of 5 May 1791.

The

Andrzej Zamoyski, but opposition from Prussia, Russia, and the Polish nobility thwarted this ambitious program, which had proposed deciding all motions by majority vote.[24]

In part because his election had been imposed by Empress Catherine the Great, Poniatowski's political position was weak from the start. He proceeded with cautious reforms, such as the establishment of fiscal and military ministries and the introduction of a national customs tariff, which was soon abandoned due to opposition from Prussia's Frederick the Great.[24] These measures had already been authorized by the Convocation Sejm; more legislative and executive improvements inspired by the Familia or the King were implemented during and after the 1764 Sejm.[24]

The Commonwealth's magnates viewed reform with suspicion and neighboring powers, content with the deterioration of the Commonwealth, abhorred the thought of a resurgent and democratic power on their borders.

Imperial Austrian Army had 200,000 each.[27]

Russia's Empress Catherine and Prussia's King Frederick II provoked a conflict between members of the Sejm and the King over civil rights for religious minorities, such as

Nicholas Repnin) the King accepted the five "eternal and invariable principles" which Catherine had vowed to "protect for all time to come in the name of Poland's liberties": the election of kings, the right of liberum veto, the right to renounce allegiance to and raise rebellion against the king (rokosz), the szlachta's exclusive right to hold office and land, and landowners' power over their peasants.[25][26][29][30] Thus all the privileges ("Golden Freedoms") of the nobility that had made the Commonwealth ungovernable were guaranteed as unalterable in the Cardinal Laws.[29][30][31] The Cardinal Laws and the rights of "religious dissenters" passed by the Repnin Sejm were personally guaranteed by Empress Catherine. By these acts of legislation, for the first time, Russia formally intervened in the Commonwealth's constitutional affairs.[32]

During the 1768 Sejm, Repnin showed his disregard for local resistance by arranging the abduction and imprisonment of

Józef A. Załuski, Wacław Rzewuski and Seweryn Rzewuski, all vocal opponents of foreign domination and the recently proclaimed policies.[33] The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had legally and practically become a protectorate of the Russian Empire.[34] Nonetheless, several minor beneficial reforms were adopted, political rights of the religious minorities were restored and the need for more reforms was becoming increasingly recognized.[30][33]

King Stanisław August's acquiescence to the Russian intervention encountered some opposition. On 29 February 1768, several magnates—including

Kazimierz Pułaski (Casimir Pulaski)—vowing to oppose Russian influence, declared Stanisław August a lackey of Russia and Catherine, and formed a confederation at the town of Bar.[33][35][36] The Bar Confederation focused on limiting the influence of foreigners in Commonwealth affairs, and being pro-Catholic was generally opposed to religious tolerance.[35] It began a civil war to overthrow the King, but its irregular forces were overwhelmed by Russian intervention in 1772.[26]

deputies from entering the Sejm chamber. Painting Rejtan, by Matejko
.

The defeat of the Bar Confederation set the scene for the partition treaty of 5 August 1772, which was signed at Saint Petersburg by Russia, Prussia, and Austria.[35] The treaty divested the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of about a third of its territory and population—over 200,000 km2 (77,220 sq mi) and 4 million people.[37] The three powers justified their annexation, citing anarchy in the Commonwealth and its refusal to cooperate with its neighbors' efforts to restore order.[38] King Stanisław August yielded and on 19 April 1773, he called the Sejm into session. Only 102 of about 200 deputies attended what became known as the Partition Sejm. The rest were aware of the King's decision and refused. Despite protests from the deputy Tadeusz Rejtan and others, the treaty—later known as the First Partition of Poland—was ratified.[37]

The first of the three successive 18th-century

Polish National Anthem; (Anonymous Letters to Stanisław Małachowski (1788–89) and The Political Law of the Polish Nation (1790), by Hugo Kołłątaj, head of the Kołłątaj's Forge party; and Remarks on the Life of Jan Zamoyski (1787), by Stanisław Staszic.[43][46] Ignacy Krasicki's satires of the Great Sejm era were also seen as crucial to giving the constitution moral and political support.[47]

From his election, King Stanisław August Poniatowski worked to develop an executive government council. In 1775 the Partition Sejm established a Permanent Council, after Russia's Catherine the Great concluded it would serve her purposes.[48]

A new wave of reforms supported by progressive magnates such as the Czartoryski family and King Stanisław August were introduced at the Partition Sejm.[31][49][50] The most important included the 1773 establishment of the Commission of National Education (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej)—the first ministry of education in the world.[37][50][51][52] New schools were opened, uniform textbooks were printed, teachers received better education and poor students were provided with scholarships.[37][50] The Commonwealth's military was to be modernized and funding to create a larger standing army was agreed.[53] Economic and commercial reforms—including some intended to cover the increased military budget previously shunned as unimportant by the szlachta—were introduced.[49][50][53] A new executive assembly, the 36-strong Permanent Council comprising five ministries with limited legislative powers, was established, giving the Commonwealth a governing body in constant session between Sejms and therefore immune to their liberum veto disruptions.[31][37][49][50]

In 1776, the Sejm commissioned former chancellor Andrzej Zamoyski to draft a new

legal code.[39] By 1780, he and his collaborators had produced the Zamoyski Code (Zbiór praw sądowych). It would have strengthened royal power, made all officials answerable to the Sejm, placed the clergy and their finances under state supervision, and deprived landless szlachta of many of their legal immunities. The Code would also have improved the situation of non-nobles—townspeople and peasants.[54] Zamoyski's progressive legal code, containing elements of constitutional reform, met with opposition from native conservative szlachta and foreign powers; the 1780 Sejm did not adopt it.[39][54][55]

Constitution's adoption

Main article: Great Sejm
Małachowski
Kołłątaj
Potocki
Staszic
Piattoli

An opportunity for reform occurred during the "Great Sejm"—also called the "Four-Year Sejm"—of 1788–92, which began on 6 October 1788 with 181 deputies. In accordance with the Constitution's preamble, from 1790 it met "in dual number" when 171 newly elected deputies joined the earlier-established Sejm.

Russo-Swedish War, 1788–1790.[31][59][60][61] A new alliance between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Prussia seemed to provide security against Russian intervention, and King Stanisław August drew closer to leaders of the reform-minded Patriotic Party.[31][62][63]

Senate Chamber of Warsaw's Royal Castle, where the Constitution of 3 May 1791 was adopted. Painting by Kazimierz Wojniakowski, 1806.

The Sejm passed few major reforms in its first two years, but the subsequent two years brought more substantial changes.[58] The Sejm adopted the 1791 Free Royal Cities Act, which was formally incorporated into the final constitution. This act addressed a number of matters related to the cities, crucially expanding burghers' (i.e., townspeople's) rights, including electoral rights.[64][65] While the Sejm comprised representatives of the nobility and clergy, the reformers were supported by the burghers, who in late 1789 organized in Warsaw a "Black Procession" demanding full political enfranchisement of the bourgeoisie.[63] On 18 April 1791 the Sejm—fearing that the burghers' protests, if ignored, could turn violent, as they had in France not long before—adopted the Free Royal Cities Act.[66]

The new constitution was drafted by the King, with contributions from Ignacy Potocki, Hugo Kołłątaj and others.[31][47] The King is credited with writing the general provisions and Kołłątaj with giving the document its final shape.[47][58] Stanisław August wanted the Commonwealth to become a constitutional monarchy similar to that of Great Britain, with a strong central government based on a strong monarch.[58] Potocki wanted the Sejm to be the strongest branch of government. Kołłątaj wanted a "gentle" revolution, carried out without violence, to enfranchise other social classes in addition to the nobility.[58]

Royal Castle Senate Chamber, reconstructed after destruction in World War II

The proposed reforms were opposed by the conservatives, including the Hetmans' Party.[46][67] Threatened with violence by their opponents, the advocates of the draft began the debate on the Government Act two days early, while many opposing deputies were away on Easter recess.[68] The debate and subsequent adoption of the Government Act was executed as a quasi-coup d'état. No recall notices were sent to known opponents of reform, while many pro-reform deputies secretly returned early.[68] The royal guard under the command of the King's nephew Prince Józef Poniatowski were positioned about the Royal Castle, where the Sejm was gathered, to prevent opponents from disrupting the proceedings.[68] On 3 May, the Sejm convened with only 182 members, about half its "dual" number.[65][68] The bill was read and overwhelmingly adopted, to the enthusiasm of the crowds outside.[69] A protest was submitted the next day by a small group of deputies, but on 5 May the matter was officially concluded and protests were invalidated by the Constitutional Deputation of the Sejm.[70] It was the first time in the 18th century that a constitutional act had been passed in the Commonwealth without the involvement of foreign powers.[70]

Soon after, the

Friends of the Constitution (Zgromadzenie Przyjaciół Konstytucji Rządowej)—which included many participants in the Great Sejm—was organised to defend the reforms already enacted and to promote further ones. It is now regarded as the first modern-style political party in Poland's history.[47][71] The response to the new constitution was less enthusiastic in the provinces, where the Hetmans' Party enjoyed considerable influence.[69] General support among the middle nobility was crucial and still very substantial; most of the provincial sejmiks deliberating in 1791 and early 1792 supported the constitution.[72]

Features

3 May Constitution, printed in Warsaw, 1791

The Constitution of 3 May 1791 reflected

United States Constitution, but minus the latter's flaws, and adapted to Poland's circumstances."[citation needed] [e] George Sanford writes that the Constitution of 3 May 1791 provided "a constitutional monarchy close to the English model of the time."[31]

Article I acknowledged the

Jews). Townspeople also gained the right to acquire landed property and became eligible for military officers' commissions and public offices, such as reserved seats in the Sejm and seats in the executive commissions of the Treasury, Police, and Judiciary.[6][66] Membership in the nobility (szlachta) was also made easier for burghers to acquire.[78]

With half a million burghers in the Commonwealth now substantially enfranchised, political power became more equally distributed. Little power was given to the less politically conscious or active classes, such as Jews and peasants.[59][76][77][79] Article IV placed the Commonwealth's peasantry under the protection of the national law—a first step toward enfranchising the country's largest and most oppressed social class. Their low status compared to other classes was not eliminated, as the constitution did not abolish serfdom.[77][79][80][f] The Second Partition and Kościuszko's Proclamation of Połaniec in 1794 would later begin to abolish serfdom.[82]

Article V stated that "all power in civil society [should be] derived from the will of the people."[6] The constitution referred to the country's "citizens," which for the first time included townspeople and peasants.[6][70] The document's preamble and 11 individual articles introduced the principle of popular sovereignty applied to the nobility and townspeople, and the separation of powers into legislative (a bicameral Sejm), executive ("the King and the Guardians," the Guardians of the Laws being the newly established top governmental entity) and judicial branches.[31][73][83] It advanced the democratization of the polity by limiting the excessive legal immunities and political prerogatives of landless nobility.[66][77][80][84]

suspensive veto over laws that the Sejm passed, valid until the next Sejm session, when it could be overruled.[6][80]

Article VI recognized the Prawo o sejmikach, the act on regional assemblies (

electoral ordinance.[64] Previously, all nobles had been eligible to vote in sejmiks, which de facto meant that many of the poorest, landless nobles—known as "clients" or "clientele" of local magnates—voted as the magnates bade them.[31][64] Now right to vote was tied to a property qualification: one had to own or lease land and pay taxes, or be closely related to somebody who did, to vote.[65][87] 300,000 of 700,000 previously eligible nobles were thus disfranchised.[64] Voting rights were restored to landowners in military service. They had lost these rights in 1775.[64] Voting was limited to men aged at least 18.[80] The eligible voters elected deputies to local powiats, or county sejmiks, which elected deputies to the General Sejm.[80]

Finally, Article VI explicitly abolished several institutional sources of government weakness and national anarchy, including the liberum veto, confederations and confederated sejms, and the excessive influence of sejmiks stemming from the previously binding nature of their instructions to their Sejm deputies.[31][65] The confederations were declared "contrary to the spirit of this constitution, subversive of government and destructive of society."[88] Thus the new constitution strengthened the powers of the Sejm, moving the country towards a constitutional monarchy.[31][65]

impeach a minister.[31][89] The King was the nation's commander-in-chief; there is no mention of hetmans (the previous highest-ranking military commanders).[89] The King had the right to grant pardons, except in cases of treason.[81] The royal council's decisions were implemented by commissions, whose members were elected by the Sejm.[89]

Manuscript of the 3 May Constitution in Lithuanian[91]
Part of a series on the
politics and government of Poland
Constitutions and major statutes of Poland

The Constitution changed the government from an elective to a hereditary monarchy.[31][65][92] This provision was intended to reduce the destructive influence of foreign powers at each election.[93][g] The royal dynasty was elective, and if one were to cease, a new family would be chosen by the nation.[88] The king reigned by the "grace of God and the will of the Nation," and "all authority derives from the will of the Nation."[31][80] The institution of pacta conventa was preserved.[89] On Stanisław August's death the Polish throne would become hereditary and pass to Frederick Augustus I of Saxony of the House of Wettin, which had provided the two kings before Stanisław August.[65][89] This provision was contingent upon Frederic Augustus' consent. He declined when Adam Czartoryski offered him the throne.[65][h]

Discussed in Article VIII, the judiciary was separated from the two other branches of the government,

State Tribunal of Poland.[80][89] Referendary courts were established in each province to hear the cases of the peasantry.[89] Municipal courts, described in the law on towns, complemented this system.[89]

Article IX covered procedures for

regency, which should be taken up jointly by the council of the Guardians, headed by the Queen, or in her absence by the Primate.[81][97] Article X stressed the importance of education of royal children and tasked the Commission of National Education with this responsibility.[97] The last article of the constitution, Article XI, concerned the national standing army.[81] Said army was defined as a "defensive force" dedicated "solely to the nation's defense."[81] The army was to be increased in strength to 100,000 men.[98]

To further enhance the Commonwealth's integration and security, the Constitution abolished the erstwhile union of Poland and Lithuania in favor of a unitary state.[47][99] Its full establishment, supported by Stanisław August and Kołlątaj, was opposed by many Lithuanian deputies.[99] As a compromise, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania received numerous privileges guaranteeing its continued existence.[99] Related acts included the Declaration of the Assembled Estates (Deklaracja Stanów Zgromadzonych) of 5 May 1791, confirming the Government Act adopted two days earlier, and the Mutual Pledge of the Two Nations (Zaręczenie Wzajemne Obojga Narodów), i.e., of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of 22 October 1791, affirming the unity and indivisibility of Poland and Lithuania within a single state and their equal representation in state-governing bodies.[100][75][101] The Mutual Pledge strengthened the Polish–Lithuanian union while keeping many federal aspects of the state intact.[99][102][103]

English edition, London, 1791

The Constitution was also published in English-, French-, and German-language editions. Also a manuscript in lithuanian language exists but it was made in the beginning of XIX century.[91]

The Constitution provided for potential amendments, which were to be addressed at an extraordinary Sejm to be held every 25 years.[65][85]

The Constitution remained to the last a work in progress. The Government Act was fleshed out in a number of laws passed in May and June 1791: on sejm courts (two acts of 13 May), the Guardians of the Laws (1 June), the national police commission (a ministry, 17 June), and municipal administration (24 June).

The Constitution's co-author Hugo Kołłątaj announced that work was underway on "an economic constitution ... guaranteeing all rights of property [and] securing protection and honor to all manner of labor ..."[104] A third planned basic law was mentioned by Kołłątaj: a "moral constitution," most likely a Polish analog to the United States Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.[104] The Constitution called for the preparation of a new civil and criminal code, tentatively called the Stanisław August Code.[97][105] The King also planned a reform improving the situation of the Jews.[105]

Aftermath: war and final two Partitions

Main article: Polish–Russian War of 1792

The constitutional formal procedures were performed for little over a year before being stopped by Russian armies allied with conservative Polish nobility in the

Ewald von Hertzberg expressed the fears of European conservatives: "The Poles have given the coup de grâce to the Prussian monarchy by voting a constitution", elaborating that a strong Commonwealth would likely demand return of the lands that Prussia had acquired in the First Partition.[108][111]

Magnates who had opposed the constitution draft from the start,

St. Petersburg in January 1792, criticized the constitution for contributing to "contagion of democratic ideas" following "the fatal examples set in Paris."[112][113] It asserted that "The parliament ... has broken all fundamental laws, swept away all liberties of the gentry and on the third of May 1791 turned into a revolution and a conspiracy."[114] The Confederates declared an intention to overcome this revolution. We "can do nothing but turn trustingly to Tsarina Catherine, a distinguished and fair empress, our neighboring friend and ally", who "respects the nation's need for well-being and always offers it a helping hand", they wrote.[114]

Russian armies entered Poland and Lithuania, starting the Polish–Russian War of 1792.[69] The Sejm voted to increase the army of the Commonwealth to 100,000 men, but owing to insufficient time and funds this number was never achieved and soon abandoned even as a goal.[69][115] The Polish King and the reformers could field only a 37,000-man army, many of them untested recruits.[116] This army, under the command of Józef Poniatowski and Tadeusz Kościuszko, defeated or fought to a draw the Russians on several occasions, but in the end, a defeat loomed inevitable.[69] Despite Polish requests, Prussia refused to honor its alliance obligations.[117] Stanisław August's attempts at negotiations with Russia proved futile.[118] As the front lines kept shifting to the west and in July 1792 Warsaw was threatened with siege by the Russians, the King came to believe that victory was impossible against the numerically superior enemy, and that surrender was the only alternative to total defeat.[118] Having received assurances from the Russian ambassador Yakov Bulgakov that no territorial changes will occur, the Guardians of the Laws cabinet voted 8:4 to surrender.[118] On 24 July 1792, King Stanisław August Poniatowski joined the Targowica Confederation, as the Empress had demanded.[69] The Polish Army disintegrated.

Many reform leaders, believing their cause was for now lost, went into self-imposed exile. Some hoped that Stanisław August would be able to negotiate an acceptable compromise with the Russians, as he had done in the past.[118] But the King had not saved the Commonwealth and neither had the Targowica Confederates, who governed the country for a short while. To their surprise, the Grodno Sejm, bribed or intimidated by the Russian troops, enacted the Second Partition of Poland.[69][113][119] On 23 November 1793, it concluded its deliberations under duress, annulling the constitution and acceding to the Second Partition.[120][121] Russia took 250,000 square kilometres (97,000 sq mi), while Prussia took 58,000 square kilometres (22,000 sq mi).[119] The Commonwealth now comprised no more than 215,000 square kilometres (83,000 sq mi).[122] What was left of the Commonwealth was merely a small buffer state with a puppet king, and Russian garrisons keeping an eye on the reduced Polish army.[122][123]

For a year and a half, Polish patriots waited while planning an insurrection.

Wilno (22 April)—the Uprising was crushed when the forces of Russia, Austria and Prussia joined in a military intervention.[124] Historians consider the Uprising's defeat to have been a foregone conclusion in face of the superiority in numbers and resources of the three invading powers. The defeat of Kościuszko's forces led in 1795 to the third and final partition of the Commonwealth.[124]

Legacy

Historic importance

Primate of Poland Michał Jerzy Poniatowski
, to commemorate the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Work on Temple had only begun when Poland was invaded by Russian Imperial Army. Chapel is now within Warsaw University Botanical Garden.

The Constitution of 3 May 1791 has been both idealized, and criticized for either not going far enough or being too radical.[74] As its provisions remained in force for only 18 months and 3 weeks, its influence was, in any case, limited.[124] However, for generations, the memory of the Constitution—recognized by political scientists as a progressive document for its time—helped keep alive Polish aspirations for an independent and just society, and continued to inform the efforts of its authors' descendants.[6][31] Bronisław Dembiński, a Polish constitutional scholar, wrote a century later that "The miracle of the Constitution did not save the state but did save the nation."[6] In Poland the Constitution is mythologized and viewed as a national symbol and as the culmination of the Enlightenment in Polish history and culture.[31][44] In the words of two of its authors, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj, it was "the last will and testament of the expiring Homeland."[c][2] Since Poland's recovery of independence in 1918, the 3 May anniversary of the Constitution's adoption has been observed as the country's most important civil holiday.[125]

The 3 May Constitution was a milestone in the history of law and in the growth of democracy.

Walerian Kalinka and Władysław Smoleński, and continued in the 20th century by Bogusław Leśnodorski.[44]

The document's official name was Ustawa Rządowa ("Government Act"), where "government" referred to the political system.[58] In the Commonwealth, the term "constitution" (Polish: konstytucja) had previously denoted all the legislation, of whatever character, that had been passed by a given Sejm.[132]

Holiday

Medal commemorating the Constitution of 3 May 1791, issued that year
Main article: 3 May Constitution Day

3 May was declared a Polish holiday (Constitution Day—Święto Konstytucji 3 Maja) on 5 May 1791.

Polish-American pride has been celebrated on the same date, for instance in Chicago, where since 1982 Poles have marked it with festivities and the annual Polish Constitution Day Parade.[135]

Notes

  1. ^ Polish: Konstytucja 3 maja; Lithuanian: Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija listenⓘ
  2. ^ Polish: Ustawa Rządowa
  3. ^
    fatherland": both these words are calques of the Latin "patria," which itself derives from the Latin "pater" ("father"). The English translation of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, by Christopher Kasparek, reproduced in Wikisource (e.g. at the end of section II, "The Landed Nobility") renders "ojczyzna" as "country", which is the usual English-language equivalent
    of the expression. In this particular context, "Homeland" may be the most natural rendering.
  4. ^
    history of the constitution
    .
  5. ^ In the original Polish, "opartą w głównej mierze na konstytucji Stanów Zjednoczonych, lecz bez błędów w niej zawartych, zaadaptowaną do warunków panuiących w Polszcze."
  6. United States Constitution sanctioned the continuation of slavery. Thus neither of the two constitutions enfranchised all its adult male population: the U.S. Constitution excluded the slaves; the Polish-Lithuanian Constitution – the peasants.[81]
  7. Stanisław August had been elected in 1764 due to support from Russian Tsarina Catherine the Great.[94] Russia spent about 2.5 million rubles to support his election, Poniatowski's supporters and opponents engaged in military posturing and even minor clashes. The Russian army was deployed a few miles from the election sejm, which met at Wola near Warsaw.[95][96]
  8. ^ In 1807, Napoleon persuaded Frederic Augustus to become the king of the Duchy of Warsaw established by the French Emperor on lands of the former Commonwealth.[47]

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