National Constituent Assembly

The National Constituent Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale constituante) was formed from the National Assembly on July 9, 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. It dissolved September 30, 1791, succeeded by the Legislative Assembly.

Structure in the summer of 1789

Following the storming of the Bastille on July 14, the National Constituent Assembly became the effective government of France. In the words of historian François Mignet, "The assembly had acquired the entire power; the corporations 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

Related Topics:
Storming of the Bastille - July 14 - François Mignet - Corporation

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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 military background, while the Third Estate was dominated by men of legal professions.

Related Topics:
1791 - July - 1789

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Some of the leading figures of the Assembly at this time included:

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• 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). Mignet also points to Adrien Duport, 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 attained." Lameth's brother Charles also belonged to this group.

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.

Related Topics:
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès - Republic

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