The National Constituent Assembly was formed from the National Assembly on July 9, 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. It dissolved September 30, 1791 and was succeeded by the Legislative Assembly.
The Estates-General of 1789, which convened on May 5, had reached a deadlock in its deliberations by May 6. The representatives of the Third Estate therefore attempted to make the whole body more effective; they met separately from May 11 as the Communes. On June 12, the Communes invited the other Estates to join them: some members of the First Estate did so the following day. On June 17 the Communes declared themselves the National Assembly by a vote of 490 to 90. The First Estate joined the assembly on June 19. A legislative and political agenda unfolded.
Following attempts by King Louis XVI and the Second Estate to prevent the delegates from meeting, the new assembly was forced to relocate to a tennis court on June 20; there, it swore the Tennis Court Oath, promising to draft a new constitution for France. Failing to disperse the delegates, Louis started to recognise their validity on June 27. The Assembly re-named itself the National Constituent Assembly on July 9, and began to function as a governing body and a constitution-drafter.
Following the storming of the Bastille on July 14, the National Constituent Assembly became the effective government of France.
The number of the Estates-General increased significantly during the election period, but many deputies took their time arriving, some of them reaching Paris as late as 1791... there were a total of 1177 deputies in the Assembly by mid-July, 1789. Among them, 278 belonged to the Nobles[1st Estate], 295 the Clergy [2nd Estate], and 604 were representatives of the Third Estate [regular citizens].
Some of the leading figures of the Assembly at this time included:
The conservative foes of the revolution, later known as the "Right":
Jacques Antoine Marie Cazalès — a forthright spokesman for aristocracy;
the abbé Jean-Sifrein Maury — a somewhat inflexible representative of the Church;
The "Royalist democrats" (later known as "Constitutionals" or "Monarchicals") allied with Jacques Necker, inclined toward arranging France along lines similar to the British constitutional model with a House of Lords and a House of Commons:
Jean Joseph Mounier
the Comte de Lally-Tollendal
the Comte de Clermont-Tonnerre
Pierre Victor Malouet, Comte de Virieu
The "National Party," at this time still relatively united in support of revolution and democratization, representing mainly the interests of the middle classes, but strongly sympathetic to the broader range of the common people. In this early period, its most notable leaders included Mirabeau, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Jean-Sylvain Bailly (the first two coming from aristocratic backgrounds).
To this list one must add the Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, foremost in proposing legislation in this period, and the man who, for a time, managed to bridge the differences between those who wanted a constitutional monarchy and those who wished to move in more democratic (or even republican) directions.
After surviving the vicissitudes of a revolutionary two years, the National Constituent Assembly dissolved itself on September 30, 1791. The following day the Constitution of 1791 went into effect, granting power to the Legislative Assembly.
2006-11-04 14:02:22
·
answer #1
·
answered by peter_lobell 5
·
1⤊
0⤋