Proclamation of Połaniec
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/AGAD_Uniwersa%C5%82_po%C5%82aniecki_-_druk.jpg/200px-AGAD_Uniwersa%C5%82_po%C5%82aniecki_-_druk.jpg)
The Proclamation of Połaniec (also known as the Połaniec Manifesto; Polish: Uniwersał Połaniecki), issued on 7 May 1794 by Tadeusz Kościuszko near the town of Połaniec, was one of the most notable events of Poland's Kościuszko Uprising, and the most famous legal act of the Uprising. It partially abolished serfdom in Poland,[1] granting substantial civil liberties to all the peasants. The motives behind the Połaniec Proclamation were twofold: first, Kosciuszko, a radical and reformer, believed that serfdom was an unfair system and should be ended; second, the uprising was in desperate need of recruits, and freeing the peasants would prompt many to enlist.
The proclamation provided the peasants with the
This was the second legal act issued by the reformed
The proclamation specifically granted to peasants:
- limited personal freedom
- reduction of serfdom during the current crisis and promise of further reduction after the end of hostilities
- freeing from serfdom of all peasants conscripted to the military
- the right not to be removed from their land
- limited right to appeal to the state's courts
- introduction of the dozorca office, the first government official representing the peasant will to the government. Dozorca represented about 1000 families, and he was supposed to enforce the proclamation
See also
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a similar act [1]
References
- ^ "Paritions of Poland". Victorian.fortunecity.com. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
- ^ "The Unusual Story of Thaddeus Kosciusko". Lituanus.org. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
- ^ http://www.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect3-4.htm [dead link]
- ISBN 978-0-521-55917-1. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-7818-0576-7- contains the translation of the proclamation
Quote
Announce to the people that, according to law, they are under the protection of the nation's government; that the person subject to any lord, is liberated.