The
National Constituent Assembly was formed from the
National AssemblyDuring the French Revolution, the National Assembly , which existed from June 17 to July 9 of 1789, was a transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly.-Background:...
on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
. It dissolved on 30 September 1791 and was succeeded by the Legislative Assembly.
Background
The
Estates-General of 1789The Estates-General of 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French collection of peoples...
, which convened on 5 May, had reached a deadlock in its deliberations by 6 May. The representatives of the Third Estate therefore attempted to make the whole body more effective; they met separately from 11 May as the
Communes. On 12 June, the
Communes invited the other Estates to join them: some members of the First Estate did so the following day. On 17 June the
Communes declared themselves the
National AssemblyDuring the French Revolution, the National Assembly , which existed from June 17 to July 9 of 1789, was a transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly.-Background:...
by a vote of 490 to 90. Elements of the First Estate, primarily the parish priests who were closer in wealth to the Third Estate compared to the bishops who were closer in wealth to the Second Estate, joined the assembly on 19 June. A legislative and political agenda unfolded.
Following attempts by King
Louis XVILouis XVI of France ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Suspended and arrested during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21...
and the Second Estate to prevent the delegates from meeting and some misunderstandings on both sides about one another's intentions, the new assembly was forced to relocate to a tennis court on 20 June; there, it swore the
Tennis Court OathThe Tennis Court Oath was a pivotal event during the French Revolution. The Oath was a pledge signed by 576 out of the 577 members from the Third Estate and a few members of the First Estate during a meeting of the Estates-General of 20 June 1789 in a tennis court building near the Palace of...
, promising that it would not adjourn until it had drafted a new
constitutionA constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. In the case of countries, this term refers specifically to a national constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the...
for France. Failing to disperse the delegates, Louis started to recognize their validity on 27 June. The Assembly re-named itself the
National Constituent Assembly on 9 July, and began to function as a governing body and a constitution-drafter. However, it is common to refer to the body even after this date as the "National Assembly" or alternatively, "Constituent Assembly."
Structure in the summer of 1789
Following the
storming of the BastilleThe Storming of the Bastille in Paris occurred on 14 July, 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. While the prison only contained seven prisoners at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French...
on 14 July, the National Constituent Assembly became the effective government of France. In the words of historian
François MignetFrançois Auguste Marie Mignet was a French journalist and historian.-Biography:François-Auguste Mignet was born in Aix-en-Provence , France. His father was a locksmith from the Vendée, who enthusiastically accepted the principles of the French Revolution and encouraged liberal ideas in his son...
, "The assembly had acquired the entire power; the
corporationA corporation is a legal entity separate from the shareholders and employees. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole or a corporation aggregate...
s depended on it; the national guards obeyed it... The royal power, though existing of right, was in a measure suspended, since it was not obeyed, and the assembly had to supply its action by its own."
http://www.outfo.org/literature/pg/etext06/8hfrr10.txt
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. According to Timothy Tackett's
Becoming a Revolutionary, there were a total of 1177 deputies in the Assembly by mid-July 1789. Among them, 278 belonged to the Nobles, 295 the Clergy, and 604 were representatives of the Third Estate. For the entire duration of the Assembly a total of 1315 deputies were certified, with 330 for the Clergy, 322 nobles and 663 deputies of the Third Estate. According to his research, Mr. Tackett noted that the majority of the Second Estate had a military background, while the Third Estate was dominated by men of legal professions.
Some of the leading figures of the Assembly at this time included:
- The conservative foes of the revolution, later known as the "Right
In politics, right-wing, political right, rightist and the Right are terms used to describe a number of positions and ideologies. They are most commonly used to refer to support for preserving traditional or cultural values and customs or for maintaining some form of social hierarchy or private...
":
- Jacques Antoine Marie de Cazalès
Jacques Antoine Marie de Cazalès was a French orator and politician.-Biography:He was born at Grenade, Haute-Garonne, in a family of the lower nobility....
— a forthright spokesman for aristocracyAristocracy is a form of government, in which a few of the most prominent citizens rule. This may be a hereditary elite, or it may be by a system of cooption where a council of prominent citizens add leading soldiers, merchants, land owners, priests, and lawyers to their number...
- the abbé Jean-Sifrein Maury
Jean-Sifrein Maury , was a French cardinal and Archbishop of Paris.-Biography:The son of a poor cobbler, he was born on at Valréas in the Comtat-Venaissin, the enclave within France that belonged to the pope. His acuteness was observed by the priests of the seminary at Avignon, where he was...
— a somewhat inflexible representative of the Church
- The "Royalist democrats" (later known as "Constitutionals" or "Monarchicals") allied with Jacques Necker
Jacques Necker was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789.-Early life:Necker was born in Geneva, Switzerland...
, inclined toward arranging France along lines similar to the British constitutionalThe constitution of the United Kingdom is the set of laws and principles under which the United Kingdom is governed.The UK has no single constitutional document comparable to those of most other nations. It is therefore often said that the country has an "unwritten", uncodified or de facto...
model with a House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons , and the Lords...
and a House of Commons:
- Pierre Victor, baron Malouet
Pierre Victor, baron Malouet , a French publicist and politician, was born at Riom ....
- Trophime-Gérard, marquis de Lally-Tollendal
Trophime-Gérard, marquis de Lally-Tollendal was a French politician.-Biography:Born in Paris, he was the legitimized son of the Thomas Arthur de Lally, and only discovered the secret of his birth on the day of his father's execution, when he devoted himself to clearing his father's memory...
- Stanislas Marie Adelaide, comte de Clermont-Tonnerre
Stanislas Marie Adélaïde, comte de Clermont-Tonnerre was a French politician.-Early life and career:...
- Jean Joseph Mounier
Jean Joseph Mounier , was a French politician and judge.He was born at Grenoble . He studied law, and in 1783 obtained a judgeship at Grenoble. He took part in the struggle between the parlements and the court in 1788, and promoted the meeting of the estates of Dauphiné at Vizille , on the eve of...
- The "National Party," at this time still relatively united in support of revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
and democratizationDemocracy is a system of government in which either the actual governing is carried out by the people governed , or the power to do so is granted by them...
, representing mainly the interests of the middle classThe middle class are any class in the middle of a social schema. In Weberian socio-economic terms they are the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the working class and upper class. In Marxist terms, middle class commonly refers to either the...
es, but strongly sympathetic to the broader range of the common people. In this early period, its most notable leaderLeadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”...
s included Mirabeau, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Jean-Sylvain Bailly (the first two coming from aristocratic backgrounds). Mignet also points to Adrien DuportAdrien Duport was a French politician.He was born in Paris. He became an influential advocate in the parlement, and was prominent in opposition to the ministers Calonne and Loménie de Brienne....
, Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave, and Alexander Lameth as leaders among the "most extreme of this party" in this period, leaders in taking "a more advanced position than that which the revolution had [at this time] attained." Lameth's brother Charles also belonged to this group.
To this list one must add the Abbé
Emmanuel Joseph SieyèsEmmanuel Joseph Sieyès or Abbe Sieyes was a French Roman Catholic abbé and clergyman, one of the chief theorists of the French Revolution, French Consulate, and First French Empire...
, 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
republicA republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people have an impact on its government. The word 'republic' is derived from the Latin phrase res publica which can be translated as "a public affair".Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their...
an) directions.
Proceedings
For a detailed description of the proceedings in the National Constituent Assembly and related events, please see the following articles:
For a list of presidents of the National Constituent Assembly, see:
List of Presidents of the French National Assembly.
For a partial list of members of the National Constituent Assembly, see:
Alphabetical list of members of the National Constituent Assembly of 1789This list aims to display alphabetically the 1,145 titular deputies elected to the Estates-General of 1789, which became the National Assembly on 17 June 1789 and the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July 1789; as well as the alternate delegates who sat.-A:* Luc René Charles Achard de...
.
Dissolution
After surviving the vicissitudes of a revolutionary two years, the National Constituent Assembly dissolved itself on 30 September 1791. The following day the
Constitution of 1791The short-lived French Constitution of 1791 was the first written constitution of France. One of the basic precepts of the revolution was adopting constitutionality and establishing popular sovereignty, following the steps of the United States of America....
went into effect, granting power to the Legislative Assembly.