French Constitution of 1791: Difference between revisions

A second body, the Committee of Revisions, was struck September 1790, and included [[Antoine Barnave]], [[Adrien Duport]], and [[Charles de Lameth]]. Because the National Assembly was both a legislature and a constitutional convention, it was not always clear when its decrees were constitutional articles or mere statutes. It was the job of this committee to sort it out. The committee became very important in the days after the [[Champs de Mars Massacre]], when a wave of revulsion against popular movements swept France and resulted in a renewed effort to preserve powers for the Crown. The result is the [[Feuillant (political group)#The ascendency of the Feuillants|rise of the Feuillants]], a new political faction led by [[Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave|Barnave]], who used his position on the committee to preserve a number of powers for the Crown, such as the nomination of ambassadors, military leaders, and ministers.

 

[[File:Proclamation Constitution 1791, Musée de la Révolution française - Vizille.jpg|thumb|Proclamation of the Constitution on the place du marché des Innocents on September 14, 1791, by [[Jean-Louis Prieur]], ([[Musée de la Révolution française]]).]]

After very long negotiations, the constitution was reluctantly accepted by King [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] in September 1791.

Redefining the organization of the French government, citizenship and the limits to the powers of government, the National Assembly set out to represent the interests of the [[general will]]. It abolished many “institutions which were injurious to liberty and equality of rights”. The National Assembly asserted its legal presence in French government by establishing its permanence in the Constitution and forming a system for recurring elections. The Assembly's belief in a sovereign nation and in equal representation can be seen in the constitutional [[separation of powers]]. The National Assembly was the [[Legislature|legislative body]], the king and royal ministers made up the [[Executive (government)|executive branch]] and the [[judiciary]] was independent of the other two branches. On a local level, the previous [[feudalism|feudal]] geographic divisions were formally abolished, and the territory of the French state was divided into several [[administrative unit]]s, [[Department (country subdivision)|Departments]] (''Départements''), but with the principle of [[centralism]].

 

 

The Assembly, as constitution-framers, were afraid that if only representatives governed France, it was likely to be ruled by the representatives' self-interest; therefore, the king was allowed a suspensive veto to balance out the interests of the people. By the same token, representative democracy weakened the king’s executive authority.