National Constituent Assembly
The Foundations of the French Republic
When the Estates-General convened on May 5, 1789, the deliberations became deadlocked within one day. The Third Estate's representation attempted to make the whole body more effective, however, the group decided to begin meeting separately from the Estates-General on May 11. They established the Communes, eventually letting members of the First Estate join as well. On June 17, the Communes was declared the National Assembly with a vote of 490 to 90. As the First Estate of clergy began to dissipate into the Assembly, a political agenda unfolded as well as legislative action.
King Louis XVI and the Second Estate of nobility attempted to prevent the delegates from meeting and even mobilized guards for the deputies. On June 20, the delegates met on a tennis court and swore an allegiance that became known as the Tennis Court Oath. The National Assembly now promised to remain convened until a constitution for France was established. On June 27, Louis XVI recognized the groups legislative validity. On July 9, the Assembly was re-named the National Constituent Assembly and established itself as the official governing body of France.
Structure of the National Constituent Assembly
On July 14, the Bastille was stormed by an angry mob. Following this event, the public ceased to recognize the king as the supreme authority and turned to the National Constituent Assembly. The size of the Assembly was enlarged to 1177 total deputies. Elections were held nationwide and delegates descended on Paris almost immediately. Of the membership ranks, nobility accounted for 278 members and the Clergy had 295. The majority of the remaining delegates were of a legal background.
Leadership of the Assembly was fractured and led to the establishment of political parties. A number of members assembled as conservative members of the Right, fighting against many of the elements of the Revolution. Jacques Antoine Marie de Cazales and Jean-Sifrein Maury led this party, mostly represented by the aristocracy and the Church. The Royalist Democrats were led by Jacques Necker and pushed for a constitutional monarchy with a parliament similar to Britain. The remainder of the National Constituent Assembly was members of the National Party. These were more progressive members and radicals that supported the idea of a full revolution and complete democratization of France similar to the United States. Leaders of this party were Marquie de Lafayette, Mirabeau and Jean-Sylvain Bailly. The entire Assembly was kept intact with the nonpartisan leadership of Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes, who leveraged basic legislation each party could agree with.
Legislation Successes
Unfortunately, the National Constituent Assembly was unable to come to a consensus regarding a constitution. Much of this was due to the political parties disagreements. However, the Assembly did succeed in three main items.
First, the membership decided to abolish feudalism. This process removed the non-taxation status of the nobility and removed the tithe collected by the Clergy.
Similar to the United States Declaration of Independence, the National Constituent Assembly ratified its own founding document on August 26, 1789. Called the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, this established the fundamental rights of every man in France and took power away from the king.
On July 12, 1790, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy was ratified, making every church leader an employee of the State.
After two years, the National Constituent Assembly dissolved itself on September 30, 1791, ceding power to the Legislative Assembly.
Sources:
Simon Schama, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (Vintage Books, 1990)
Peter McPhee, The French Revolution 1789-1799 (Oxford University Press, 2002)
David Andress, French Society in Revolution 1789-1799 (Manchester University Press, 1999)
Hugh Gough, The Terror in the French Revolution (Palgrave Macmillan, 1998)
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