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123-576: The " jeunesse dorée " came to have a considerable influence on the National Convention , and after the Jacobin revolt of 12 Germinal , Year III (April 1, 1795), are held to have forced the arrest of the four main "ringleaders" remaining from the Jacobin regime: Bertrand Barère , Jacques-Louis David , Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois and Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne , who were all threatened with transportation to French Guiana (though only

246-593: A Committee of Public Safety . Social and economic difficulties exacerbated the tensions between the groups. The final showdown was precipitated by Jean-Paul Marat 's trial and the arrest of sectional activists. On 25 May, the Paris Commune marched to the Convention to demand the release of the activists. In reply, Maximin Isnard , who was presiding over the Convention, launched into a diatribe reminiscent of

369-675: A National Constituent Assembly ( Assemblée nationale constituante ) was formed when representatives assembled at the only location available – a tennis court – and swore the Tennis Court Oath on June 20, 1789, promising that they would not adjourn until they had drafted a new constitution for France. Louis XVI recognized the validity of the National Constituent Assembly on June 27, 1789. See also 1848 French Constituent Assembly election . Parlamentarischer Rat (Parliamentary Council) (1948) – Drafted

492-401: A constitutional convention , constitutional congress , or constitutional assembly ) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution . Members of a constituent assembly may be elected by popular vote , drawn by sortition , appointed, or some combination of these methods. Assemblies are typically considered distinct from a regular legislature , although members of

615-578: A Constituent Congress was formed with the participation of the States and it enacted the 1824 Constitution . Many disputes aroused between federalists and centralists, which resulted in political instability and in 1836 the Siete Leyes (Seven Laws) were enacted. The Siete Leyes dissolved the federation and created a unitary republic, but that ended in 1846 when the Constitutive and Reforms Act

738-543: A balance that was destroyed in July by the worsening of the crisis. The Convention rapidly approved the new constitution in the hope to clear itself of the charge of dictatorship and calm the anxieties of the departments. The Declaration of Rights, which precedes the text of the Constitution, solemnly reaffirmed the nation's indivisibility and the great principles of equality, liberty, security, and property. In contrast to

861-410: A different colour, with large and elaborately knotted cravats and perhaps sashes round the waist. Colours are bright and violently contrasting, with stripes very popular – perhaps a parody of the sans-culottes , for whom stripes were also characteristic. However, more muted versions of some of these characteristics can be seen in the self-portrait painted in jail in 1794 by Jacques-Louis David after

984-588: A few days the Girondins launched a bitter attack on their Montagnard opponents. Conflict continued without interruption until the expulsion of the Girondin leaders from the Convention on 2 June 1793. The Girondins had relied on votes from the majority of the deputies, many of whom were alarmed as well as scandalized by the September massacres , but their insistence on monopolising all positions of authority during

1107-533: A government take shape. Danton resigned from it on 10 July. Couthon , Saint-Just , Jeanbon Saint-Andre , and Prieur of the Marne formed a nucleus of resolute Montagnards who rallied Barère and Lindet , then successfully added Robespierre on 27 July, Carnot and Prieur of Cote-d'Ore on 14 August, and Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne on 6 September. They had a few clear ideas to which they clung: to command, to fight, and to conquer. Their work in common,

1230-460: A host of others, backed by officers who combined abilities as soldiers and their political sense. For the first time since the Roman Empire, a government succeeded in arming and feeding great numbers of soldiers. The technical innovations resulted chiefly from its sheer size as well the strategy that developed from it. The old system of cordons lost its prestige. Moving between the armies of

1353-558: A network of institutions set up haphazardly since spring in March, the Revolutionary Tribunal and representatives on missions in the departments and was followed the next month by the Convention's representatives to the armies, also armed with unlimited powers; and enforced acceptance of assignat as the sole legal tender, price controls for grain and the forced loan of a billion livres from the rich. At last, France saw

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1476-401: A new constitution and passed it unanimously with 25 votes and no abstentions. On 20 October 2012 the parliament put the bill to a national referendum, in which 67% of the voters supported the bill. Further, 67% of the voters supported equal voting rights (one person, one vote) and 83% supported national ownership of natural resources, two key provisions of the bill. Parliament has failed to ratify

1599-470: A new constitution for Sri Lanka . Constituent Assembly of Turkey was established in 1961 after the 1960 Turkish coup d'état to prepare a democratic constitution . The constitution was prepared and approved by the voters in a referendum of 1961. The U.S. Constitutional Convention drafted the still-current United States Constitution in 1787. Its delegates were appointed by the states, not directly elected, and not all states sent delegates; moreover,

1722-514: A policy concession to the people. But the situation which united them in the summer of 1793 was stronger than those differences of opinion. The Committee had to set itself above all, and choose those popular demands which were most suitable for achieving the Assembly's aims: to crush the enemies of the Republic and dash the last hopes of the aristocracy. To govern in the name of the Convention, at

1845-604: A propaganda tool and combat weapon for the two groups. The departments and districts resisted the idea of centralization. They saw the idea being symbolised by the desire to reduce the capital of the Revolution to a minuscule share of influence. Much of the Gironde wished to remove the Assembly from a city dominated by "agitators and flatterers of the people" but did not yet encourage an aggressive federalism , which would have run counter to its political ambitions. The Plain

1968-463: A republican government. The country was little more republican in feeling or practice than it had been before at any time since Varennes but now had to become a republic because it no longer had a king. When the Convention met the military situation was undergoing an extraordinary transformation that seemed to confirm the Girondin prophecies of easy victory. After Valmy, the Prussians withdrew to

2091-617: A single-chamber assembly from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 (4 Brumaire IV under the Convention's adopted calendar ). The Convention came about when the Legislative Assembly decreed the provisional suspension of King Louis XVI and the convocation of a National Convention to draw up a new constitution with no monarchy. The other major innovation was to decree that deputies to that Convention should be elected by all Frenchmen twenty-one years old or more, domiciled for

2214-695: A situation that led to the dissolution of Congress by Iturbide on October 31, 1822, without a formal Constitution being enacted. After the dissolution of Congress, Iturbide created the National Instituent Junta , which enacted the Provisional Political Bylaws of the Mexican Empire on December 18, 1822. The dissolution of Congress had resulted in an armed revolution under the Plan de Casa Mata , which called for

2337-458: A year and living by the product of their labor. The National Convention was, therefore, the first French assembly elected by a suffrage without distinctions of class . Although the Convention lasted until 1795, power was effectively delegated by the Convention and concentrated in the small Committee of Public Safety from April 1793. The eight months from the fall of 1793 to the spring of 1794, when Maximilien Robespierre and his allies dominated

2460-642: Is granted 12 months to draft a new constitution, which has to be ratified by referendum once written, with compulsory voting . Immediately after the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War that overthrew the Rafael Angel Calderón Government, the leaders of the victorious side called for the election of a Constituent Assembly in the same year. The Assembly successfully drafted and approved the current Costa Rican Constitution. The Danish Constituent Assembly ( Danish : Den Grundlovgivende Rigsforsamling ; lit. The Constitution giving Assembly of

2583-758: Is known as Constitution Day in Denmark. The European Convention (2001) drafted the Constitution for Europe for approval by the European Council and ratification by the member states . This constitution was abandoned after being rejected in French and Dutch referendums , and was replaced by the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. During the French Revolution (from July 1789 to September 1791)

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2706-420: Is less well known than the first, which was the true executive authority and was armed with immense prerogatives. It dated from April, but its composition was thoroughly reshuffled during the summer of 1793. The summer of 1793 saw sans-culotte disturbances reach a peak under a double banner: price fixing and terror. On top came the news of unprecedented treason: Toulon and its squadron had been handed over to

2829-412: Is usually set up for its specific purpose, which it carries out in a relatively short time, after which the assembly is dissolved. A constituent assembly is a form of representative democracy . Unlike forms of constitution-making in which a constitution is unilaterally imposed by a sovereign lawmaker, the constituent assembly creates a constitution through "internally imposed" actions, in that members of

2952-721: The Basic Law of the Federal Republic for ratification by the Länder . This council was not recognized as legitimate by Soviet-occupied East Germany , which drafted its own constitution in 1949 and would not accept the Basic Law until German reunification in 1990. On 27 November 2010, Iceland held an election for a constitutional assembly , with 522 people competing for 25 delegate seats. The assembly, in session for four months from early April until late July 2011, drafted

3075-590: The Brunswick Manifesto : "If any attack made on the persons of the representatives of the nation, then I declare to you in the name of the whole country that Paris would be destroyed". On the next day, the Jacobins declared themselves in a state of insurrection. On 28 May, the Cité section called the other sections to a meeting in order to organize the insurrection. On 29 May, the delegates representing 33 of

3198-744: The Cordeliers Club , filled Bouchotte 's offices, and could generally carry the Commune with them. The other wing was the Dantonists , which formed in response to the increasing centralization of the Revolutionary Government and the dictatorship of the Committees. The Dantonists were led predominately by deputies of the Convention (rather than the sans-culottes), including Danton , Delacroix , and Desmoulins . Putting

3321-473: The Declaration of 1789 , the 1793 added rights to public assistance, work, education and insurrection. The chief aim of the Constitution was to ensure the major role of the deputies in the Convention, which was seen as being the essential basis for political democracy. The Legislative Assembly was to be elected by direct vote cast for a single member, deputies were elected on receiving a simple majority of

3444-712: The First Coalition , Charles François Dumouriez 's defection to the enemy and the War in the Vendée , which began in March 1793, were all used as arguments by Montagnards and sans-culottes to portray Girondins as soft. The Montagnards proposed measures, but the Girondins were reluctant to take such measures. The Girondins were forced to accept the Montagnards' creation of the Revolutionary Tribunal and

3567-575: The Legislative Assembly . The full number of deputies was 749, not counting 33 from the French colonies, of whom only some arrived in Paris in time. Thomas Paine and Anacharsis Cloots were appointed in the Convention by Girondins. Besides these, however, the newly formed départements annexed to France from 1782 to 1789 were allowed to send deputations. According to its own ruling,

3690-841: The Polish-Russian War of 1792 and the Third Partition of Poland . The Philippines has had several conventions: The Russian Constituent Assembly was established in Russia in the wake of the October Revolution of 1917 to form a new constitution after the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government . The Sri Lankan Parliament approved the creation of a Sri Lanka Constitutional Assembly on March 9, 2016, proposed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe . The assembly will draft

3813-622: The United Kingdom , New Zealand and Israel are examples. In these countries there is no need to call constituent assemblies, and no provision to do so, as the legislature can effectively modify the constitution. Although it lacks a written constitution, the United Kingdom has had several conventions at the subnational level including: The constitution of New Zealand consists of a collection of statutes (Acts of Parliament), Treaties, Orders-in-Council, Letters Patent, decisions of

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3936-703: The War of the Pyrenees . The Piedmontese took advantage of the diversion of republican forces at Lyons in order to invade France from the east. In Corsica , Paoli 's revolt expelled the French from the island with British support. British troops opened the Siege of Dunkirk in August, and in October, the Allies invaded Alsace . The military situation had become desperate. In addition were other incidents that compounded

4059-437: The democratic extreme , we may imagine a constituent assembly elected by universal suffrage for the sole task of writing a new constitution. And there are all sorts of intermediate arrangements." Australia held four constitutional conventions, one each in 1891, 1897, 1973, and 1998 . The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was the first and, to date, the only constitution-making body of Bangladesh, convened in 1972 by

4182-482: The interim government of Bangladesh is mulling over convening a new constituent assembly to draft a new inclusive democratic constitution, ensuring the inviolability of human dignity. As of May 2021 Chile is the most recently elected constitutional assembly. The 155 members of this assembly were elected between 15 and 16 May 2021 . The assembly has gender parity (50% females and 50% males) and has 17 seats reserved for people belonging to indigenous peoples. The assembly

4305-779: The "foreign plot". All were executed on 4 Germinal (24 March). This move largely silenced the Hébertists, now without their leadership. Having succeeded in stifling dissent on the left, the Committee then turned on the Dantonists, several members of which were implicated in financial corruption. The Committee forced the Convention to lift the parliamentary immunity of nine Dantonist deputies, allowing them to be put on trial. On 5 April Dantonist leaders Danton , Delacroix , Desmoulins , and Philippeaux were executed. Constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as

4428-587: The "jeunesse dorée" ("gilded youth") or simply les jeunes gens ("the young people"). The term had long been current in Lyon , used by the working class of "white-collar" domestic servants, shop boys and clerks of the merchants. An element of effeminacy was implied. In 1789, at the start of the Revolution, a royalist militia was raised in Lyon, with the encouragement of the city elite, and containing many of their employees, and their revolutionary opponents started to call them

4551-406: The "muscadins". Perfumed or not, they were an effective military force in the area for nearly a year, before being disbanded after it was clear that national events had overtaken them. Their equipment, and nickname, were transferred to the local Garde Nationale , and when Lyon was besieged by Jacobin armies in 1793, the term became known in Paris. In that year the term was used in the battle between

4674-487: The 29th), on the 14th reorganized the Revolutionary Tribunal , on the 17th voted in the law on suspects, and on the 20th gave the local revolutionary committees the task of drawing up lists of them. The dictatorship of the Convention and the committees, simultaneously supported and controlled by the Parisian sections, representing the sovereign people in permanent session, lasted from June to September. It governed through

4797-494: The Coalition, the French could maneuver along interior lines, deploy part of their troops along the frontiers and take advantage of the inaction of any one of their enemies to beat the others. Acting en masse , and overwhelming the foe by sheer numbers were Carnot's principles. They were still untried and not until Bonaparte appeared did they enjoy any great success. As late as September 1793, there were two distinct wings among

4920-622: The Committee of Public Safety, represent the most radical and bloodiest phase of the French Revolution, known as the Reign of Terror . After the fall of Robespierre , the Convention lasted for another year until a new constitution was written, ushering in the French Directory . The indirect election took place from 2 to 10 September 1792 after the election of the electoral colleges by primary assemblies on 26 August. Despite

5043-431: The Committee proved conciliatory. The Convention voted 10 million livres for relief, on 3 Ventôse , Barère presented a new general Maximum, and on the 8th Saint-Just obtained a decree confiscating the property of suspects and distributing it to the needy ( Ventôse Decrees ). The Hébertists felt that if they increased the pressure, they would triumph once and for all. Although the call appeared like one for insurrection it

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5166-599: The Congress enacted the Constitutional Decree for the Liberty of Mexican America ( Decreto Constitucional para la Libertad de la América Mexicana ), known as the Constitution of Apatzingán . The 1814 Constitution entered into force in the territories dominated by the insurgents, but as the war continued and the first insurgent leaders (like Morelos) were defeated, it was largely forgotten. After independence

5289-529: The Constituent Assembly started functioning as India's Parliament. Dr.B. R. Ambedkar drafted the Constitution of India in conjunction with the requisite deliberations and debates in the Constituent Assembly. The Assembly approved the Constitution on November 26, 1949 (celebrated as Constitution Day ), and it took effect on January 26, 1950 — a day now commemorated as Republic Day in India. Once

5412-627: The Constitution took effect, the Constituent Assembly became the Provisional Parliament of India. The Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia was established to draw up a permanent constitution. Its membership was elected in November 1955, and it met for the first time in November 1956. After four sessions, it failed to agree on the fundamental basis for the state. It was dissolved in 1959, and the original constitution imposed by presidential decree.(OTP) The Constituent Assembly of Italy

5535-455: The Convention elected its President every fortnight, and the outgoing President was eligible for re-election after the lapse of a fortnight. Ordinarily, the sessions were held in the morning, but evening sessions also occurred frequently, often extending late into the night. Sometimes in exceptional circumstances, the Convention declared itself in permanent session and sat for several days without interruption. For both legislative and administrative

5658-518: The Convention ordered the entire National Guard to line both sides of the route to the scaffold. Louis was beheaded at the Place de la Revolution . Within the nation, "voters" and "appellants", those against or for the execution of Louis, swore undying hatred of each other. The rest of Europe, fearing the outcome of the French Revolution in their own countries, decreed a war of extermination against regicides. The Assembly began harmoniously, but within

5781-644: The Convention that a Constitution which Louis had violated himself, despite declaring his inviolability, could not be used in his defence. Robespierre had been taken ill and had done little other than support Saint-Just , who gave his first major speech, in his argument against the king's inviolability. On 20 November, opinion turned sharply against Louis following the discovery of a secret cache of 726 documents consisting of Louis's personal communications with bankers and ministers. At his trial, he claimed not to recognise documents that had been clearly signed by himself. The trial began on 10 December. The Montagnards put

5904-578: The Convention used committees, with powers more or less widely extended and regulated by successive laws. The most famous of these committees included the Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security . The Convention held legislative and executive powers during the first years of the French First Republic and had three distinct periods: Girondin, Montagnard or Jacobin, and Thermidorian . The National Convention

6027-483: The Convention, and their attacks on the Montagnard leaders, soon irritated them and caused them to regard the party as a faction. One by one, deputies such as Couthon , Cambon , Carnot , Lindet and Barère began to gravitate towards the Montagnards, and the majority, The Plain, as it was called, held itself aloof from both sides. Girondins were convinced that their opponents aspired to a bloody dictatorship, but

6150-412: The Convention, was postponed until peace had been made. Indeed, the Montagnards faced dramatic circumstances: federalist insurrection, war in the Vendée, military failures and a worsening economic situation. Despite everything, a new civil war could not be avoided. By the middle of June, about 60 departments were in more or less open rebellion . However, the frontier departments had remained faithful to

6273-450: The Convention. The rising was widespread, rather than deep. It was essentially the work of the departmental and district administrations. The communes, which were more popular in composition, showed themselves in general lukewarm or hostile, and federalist leaders soon became divided among themselves. Sincere republicans among them could not fail to be uneasy about the foreign invasion and the Vendée. Those who were seeing themselves rejected by

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6396-565: The Courts and unwritten constitutional conventions. Because it is not supreme law, the constitution is comparatively easy to reform, requiring only a majority of Members of Parliament to amend it. The constitutional law of Israel is determined by the Knesset which, since 1949, serves as the country's ongoing constituent assembly. The Knesset has the power to create Basic Laws of Israel , laws which are entrenched legislation and will become part of

6519-517: The Jacobin publications Le Père Duchesne , written by Jacques Hébert , and Le Vieux Cordelier , written by Camille Desmoulins , with Hébert using it in criticising Desmoulins. The split among the Jacobins was to be resolved the next year by the execution of both men with many of their respective factions; in the meeting of the Committee of Public Safety that moved against the "Hébertistes" in March 1794, Barère complained that Muscadins, along with foreigners and deserters, were seen to "congregate at

6642-434: The Montagnards believed that the Girondins were ready for any compromise with conservatives and even royalists to guarantee their remaining in power. The bitter enmity soon reduced the Convention to a state of limbo. Debate after debate degenerated into verbal brawling from which no decision could emerge. The political deadlock, which had repercussions all over France, eventually drove men to accept dangerous allies: royalists in

6765-524: The Montagnards, although they were still democrats . The Girondins drew their name from the Gironde , a region of France from which many of the deputies of this faction were elected (although many "Girondins" were actually Parisian by origin) and were also known as the Brissotins after their most prominent speaker, Jacques Pierre Brissot . The Montagnards drew their support from the Paris Commune and

6888-638: The Realm ) of 1848 established the Constitution of Denmark in 1849 ( Danish : Danmarks Riges Grundlov ; lit. The Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark ) and formalized the transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy . The assembly consisted of members of which 114 were directly elected in October 1848, 38 were appointed by the king and the rest were government ministers. The constituent assembly met at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen and first met on 23 October 1848. The assembly

7011-517: The arrest of suspects and a purge of the committees. It was probably the key day in the formation of the revolutionary government: the convention yielded, but kept control of events. It put Terror on the agenda on 5 September, on the 6th elected Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne to the Committee of Public Safety, on the 9th created the revolutionary army, on the 11th decreed the Maximum for grain and fodder (general controls for prices, and wages on

7134-629: The assembly agreed to the proposition " That royalty be abolished in France " and was carried with cheers. On the 22nd came the news of the Battle of Valmy . On the same day, it was decreed that "in future the acts of the assembly shall be dated First Year of the French Republic ". Three days later, the corollary that "the French republic is one and indivisible" was added to guard against federalism. A republic had been proclaimed but remained to enact

7257-449: The bill, however, inviting accusations that the political class is trying to thwart the will of the people by disrespecting the result of the 2012 constitutional referendum. In Ireland , the government elected in March 2011 has committed to establishing constitutional amendments on six specified issues and others it may consider; the government has separately promised amendments on five other issues. The Constituent Assembly of India

7380-461: The case of Girondins, sans-culottes in that of the Montagnards. Thus, the struggle within the Convention continued without results. The decision was to come from outside. Since the king's trial, the sans-culottes had been constantly assailing the "appealers" ( appelants ), quickly came to desire their expulsion from the Convention and demanded the establishing a Revolutionary Tribunal to deal with supposed aristocratic plots. Military setbacks from

7503-413: The church and Mexican conservatives, and the Plan de Tacubaya called for its derogation. This events led to the Reform War , which the liberals won, then restoring the 1857 Constitution and adding to it the Reform Laws . After the Porfiriato , and whilst the Mexican Revolution was still being fought, President Venustiano Carranza formed a Constituent Congress, which met in Querétaro and enacted

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7626-474: The command was reconstituted. The purge ended with most of the nobles excluded. The new generation reached the highest ranks, and the War College ( Ecole de Mars ) received six young men from each district to improve the staff. Army commanders were to be appointed by the Convention. What gradually emerged was a well-equipped military command. François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers , Lazare Hoche , Jean Baptiste Kléber , André Masséna , Jean-Baptiste Jourdan , and

7749-430: The constituent assembly are themselves citizens, but not necessarily the political leaders, of the country for which they are creating a constitution. As described by Columbia University Social Sciences Professor Jon Elster : "Constitutions arise in a number of different ways. At the non-democratic extreme of the spectrum , we may imagine a sovereign lawgiver laying down the constitution for all later generations. At

7872-407: The controversies and opposition, Sheikh Mujib's uncompromising leadership enabled the Constituent Assembly to draft and enact the Constitution in less than a year. However, from the time of its drafting until today, the constitution has been often labelled as "fascist" and criticized for fostering autocracy and failing to adequately safeguard human rights. In the aftermath of 2024 mass uprising ,

7995-465: The convention was originally charged with drafting amendments to the Articles of Confederation rather than a new constitution. The US Constitution contains no provision for its own replacement (and because of the presence of entrenched clauses it cannot be revoked through an amendment). Article V of the Constitution does permit Congress to appoint a national constitutional convention to propose amendments but it has never done so. While Congress has

8118-407: The danger, the taste of and pride in power created solidarity that made the Committee an autonomous organism. The committee was always managed collegially, despite the specific nature of the tasks of each director: the division into "politicians" and "technicians" was a Thermidorian invention, intended to lay the corpses of the Terror at the door of the Robespierrists alone. Many things, however, set

8241-410: The death penalty without condition, 26 voted for death on condition that the Mailhe amendment be applied, 334 were opposed (incl. 44 who voted for death with reprieve), 5 abstained or recused. On 19 January, the question of reprieve was put to a vote: 380 votes were cast against and 310 for (2 voted on condition, 10 abstained or recused). Each time, the Girondins had split. On the morning of 21 January,

8364-449: The debate on the ideological level. Louis XVI was classified as an enemy, who was alien to the body of the nation and as a "usurper". Balloting began on 15 January 1793. Each deputy explained his vote at the rostrum. The vote against the king was unanimous. There was to be no popular referendum, as Girondins had hoped. The fatal vote started on 16 January and continued until the next day. Of the 726 deputies present, 361 declared themselves for

8487-451: The disposal of the nation: forests, mines, quarries, furnaces, forges, tanneries, paper mills, large cloth factories and shoe making workshops. The labor of men and the value of things were subject to price controls. No one had a right to speculate at the cost of Patrie while it was in danger. Armaments caused more concern. As early as September 1793 efforts were made to create a large factory in Paris for rifles and sidearms. A special appeal

8610-756: The emergency required. It was necessary to develop war production, revive foreign trade, and find new resources in France itself, and time was short. Circumstances gradually compelled it to assume the economic government of the country. Along with organization of the army, this was the most original feature of its work. All material resources were subjected to requisitioning. Farmers surrendered their grain, fodder, wool, flax, and hemp. Artisans and merchants gave up their manufactured products. Raw materials were carefully sought out: metal of all kinds, church bells, old paper, rags and parchments, grasses, brushwood, and even household ashes for manufacturing of potassium salts, and chestnuts for distilling. All businesses were placed at

8733-433: The enemy. In the name of the wretched poverty of the people, the leaders of the enragés , with Jacques Roux at their head, called for a planned economy from a Convention, which had no liking for the idea. However, the revolutionary logic of the mobilization of resources by national dictatorship was infinitely more powerful than economic doctrine. In August, a series of decrees gave the authorities discretionary powers over

8856-674: The establishment of a Federal Republic and for the restoration of the Constituent Congress. Iturbide was forced to abdicate and he reinstalled the Constituent Congress. The Congress then created a provisional government, called the Triumvirate , and enacted the Constituent Act of the Mexican Federation, by which the former Provinces of Mexico were transformed into free and sovereign States. After this,

8979-525: The existing American constitutions, so that the constituent's assembly could draw upon the latest in constitutional design. The powers of these state constituent assemblies were also highly contested, with some claiming that they had unlimited legal power and others claiming that they must operate within the pre-existing legal landscape. In the end, a common law of constituent power emerged which held that elected constituent assemblies had limited powers. Several U.S. states have held multiple conventions over

9102-691: The fall of the Jacobins ; the Muscadins took to extremes elements of the shared fashions of the day. Their walking sticks, clubs or bludgeons are often thick twisted pieces of wood, perhaps artificially grown in that style; they are supposed to have referred to these as "constitutions". National Convention   The Mountain (302)   The Mountain (disputed members) (7)   Girondins (178)   Girondins (disputed members) (49)   The Plain (153) The National Convention (French: Convention nationale )

9225-470: The fate of the former king. A commission was therefore established to examine the evidence against him while the Convention's Legislation Committee considered legal aspects of any future trial. Most Montagnards favoured judgment and execution, but the Girondins were divided concerning Louis's fate, with some arguing for royal inviolability, others supporting clemency and still others advocating lesser punishment or banishment. On 13 November, Robespierre stated in

9348-403: The favorable conditions that a great war always offers the labor force. Still Paris became calmer because the sans-culottes were gradually finding ways to subsist; the levée en masse and the formation of the revolutionary army were thinning their ranks; many now were working in arms and equipment shops or in the offices of the committees and ministries, which were expanded enormously. During

9471-495: The federalist revolt gained strength, the popular movement, roused to fury by high prices, was increasing the pressure it exercised on the government. Meanwhile, the Government was proving incapable of controlling the situation. In July 1793, the nation appeared to be on the point of falling apart. In June the Montagnards played for time. On 3 June the sale of the property of emigrants, in small parcels and payable in ten years,

9594-520: The formation of the Federal Constitution in 1787 as well as after its ratification. Since 1776 nearly 150 state constitutional conventions have met to draft or revise state constitutions. These early state constitutional conventions frequently did not use procedural steps like popular ratification that became commonplace in the mid-19th century. Yet they were considered to be constituent assemblies that exercised their authority as that of

9717-532: The frontier, and in November, French troops occupied the left bank of the Rhine . The Austrians , who had besieged Lille in October, were defeated by Dumouriez at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November and evacuated the Austrian Netherlands . Nice was occupied and Savoy proclaimed its union with France. The successes made it safe to quarrel at home. The Girondins were more conservative than

9840-455: The fury of the revolutionaries and convinced them that their opponents had abandoned all restraint of civilized behavior. On 13 July, Charlotte Corday murdered the sans-culotte idol Jean-Paul Marat . She had been in touch with Girondin rebels in Normandy , and they were believed to have used her as their agent. The lack of forethought displayed by the Convention during the first few days

9963-708: The government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman following the country's independence. It comprised representatives elected in the national and provincial council elections of Pakistan held in 1970. As the assembly was formed with representatives elected under the Legal Framework Order, 1970 , issued by Pakistan's then-military ruler and President Yahya Khan , several political parties and political leaders, including Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani , Badruddin Umar , A.S.M. Abdur Rab , Farhad Mazhar , and others, have labeled this assembly as illegitimate. However, despite

10086-466: The introduction of universal male suffrage, the turn-out was low, though the election saw an increase in comparison to the 1791 elections—in 1792 11.9% of a greatly increased electorate votes, compared to 10.2% of a much smaller electorate in the 1791. The low turn-out was partly due to a fear of victimization; in Paris, Robespierre presided over the elections and, in concert with the radical press, managed to exclude any candidate of royalist sympathies. In

10209-422: The latter two were eventually sent there). After they had succeeded in suppressing the sans-culottes , their usefulness to the government was over, and they began to pose a threat. After the "whiff of grapeshot" in the crisis of 13 Vendémiaire , in October 1795, they ceased to be a significant factor in Parisian politics. The term "Muscadin" existed well before the post-Thermidor gangs, who are also referred to as

10332-412: The legislature may compose a significant number or all of its members. As the fundamental document constituting a state, a constitution cannot normally be modified or amended by the state's normal legislative procedures in some jurisdictions; instead a constitutional convention or a constituent assembly, the rules for which are normally laid down in the constitution, must be set up. A constituent assembly

10455-495: The needs of national defense above all other considerations, the Committee of Public Safety had no intentions of giving in to the demands of either the popular movement or the moderates. Following the Hébertists would jeopardize revolutionary unity, and giving in to the demands of the moderates would have undermined both the Terror and the controlled economy. However, unity, centralization and the Terror were all considered essential to

10578-479: The option to submit both its own proposals for amendments and those of a national convention to state conventions rather than the state legislatures for ratification; this process has been used only once (for the Twenty-first Amendment ). A long tradition in the use of constituent assemblies exists at the state level of Constitutionalism . In fact, constituent assemblies met in the states before

10701-636: The people sought support from the moderates, the Feuillants and even the aristocrats. July and August were bad months on the frontiers. Within three weeks Mainz , the symbol of previous successes, capitulated to the Prussians, and the Austrians captured the fortresses of Condé and Valenciennes and invaded northern France. Spanish troops crossed the Pyrenees and began advancing on Perpignan in

10824-458: The people. As American Sovereigns: The People and America's Constitutional Tradition Before the Civil War by Christian G. Fritz notes:. "A legitimate constitution depended on whether the sovereign people authorized it, not whether a particular procedure was used or whether revolutionary conventions were free of other responsibilities, such as passing ordinary legislation. It was the people as

10947-613: The popular societies such as the Jacobin Club and the Cordeliers , they got their name from the high bleachers on which they sat while the Convention was in session. Three issues dominated the first months of the National Convention: revolutionary violence , the trial of the king , and the Parisian dominance of politics. Antagonism between Paris and the provinces created friction among the people that served as

11070-444: The production and circulation of grain and ferocious punishments for fraud. "Granaries of plenty" were prepared, to stock corn requisitioned by authorities in each district. On 23 August, the decree on the levée en masse turned able-bodied civilians into soldiers. On 5 September, Parisians tried to repeat the revolt of 2 June. Armed sections again encircled the Convention to demand the setting up of an internal revolutionary army,

11193-431: The provisioning of the population. The Commune of Paris, a famous sans-culotte bastion, was neutralized by coming under its control. Administrative and economic centralization went hand in hand. The state of siege forced France into autarky ; to save the Republic the government mobilized all the nation's productive forces and reluctantly accepted the need for a controlled economy, which it introduced extemporaneously, as

11316-566: The public and bad acoustics. From 10 May 1793 it met in the Salle des Machines , an immense hall in which the deputies were loosely scattered. The Salle des Machines had galleries for the public who often influenced the debates with interruptions or applause. The members of the Convention came from all classes of society, but the most numerous were lawyers. 75 members had sat in the National Constituent Assembly , 183 in

11439-409: The revolutionaries. Firstly, those who were later called Hébertists although Jacques Hébert himself was never the official leader of a party that advocated war to the death and adopted the program of the enragés , ostensibly because the sans-culottes approved it. The Hébertists preferred to side with the Montagnards so long as they could hope to control the Convention through them. They dominated

11562-406: The same time controlling it, and to restrain the people without quenching their enthusiasm—this was a gamble. The ensemble of institutions, measures and procedures which constituted it was codified in a decree of 14 Frimaire (4 December) which set the seal on what had been the gradual development of centralized dictatorship founded on the Terror. In the center was the Convention, whose secular arm

11685-476: The sections formed an insurrectionary committee of nine members. On 2 June, 80,000 armed sans-culottes surrounded the Convention. After an attempt of deputies to leave was stopped with guns, the deputies resigned themselves to declare the arrest of 29 leading Girondins. In that way, the Gironde ceased to be a political force. Scarcely had the Gironde been eliminated when the Convention, now under Montagnard leadership, found itself caught between two threats. While

11808-673: The sovereign who authorized drafting those first [state] constitutions that gave them their legitimacy, not whether they used procedures that matched what was later understood to be necessary to create fundamental law." American state constituent assemblies in the 19th and 20th centuries reflected many qualities of a citizen's movement. From the start of state American constitution-making, delegates to constitutional conventions studied earlier state models of constitutions. They often self-consciously "borrow[ed]" constitutional text and provisions from other states. They often used in their drafting and debates compact and pocket-sized compilations of all

11931-496: The still-current Political Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1917. Nepal had two Constituent assemblies , the last one being elected after its predecessor failed to deliver a constitution, despite multiple extensions. It also served as the country's parliament. Finally Nepal had made constitution with 89% majority. Nepal has adopted Federalism since. The Great Sejm (also known as Four-Year Sejm )

12054-469: The summer the requisition of the levy was completed and by July the total strength of the army reached 650,000. The difficulties were tremendous. The war production just started in September. The army was in the middle of the purge. In the spring of 1794, the amalgamation was undertaken. Two battalions of volunteers joined one battalion of regulars to constitute a demi-brigade, or regiment. At the same time,

12177-562: The theatre, dressed with ridiculous ostentation, and ... show themselves with dirty stockings, large moustaches, and long sabres, threatening the good citizens, and especially the people's representatives" – he saw them as supporting the ultra-radical "Hébertistes". The costumes of the Muscadins are less well-recorded than those of their successors, the Incroyables , but appear to have been similar to these. Characteristics include tightly-cut coats with extravagantly large lapels, typically in

12300-516: The three groups the Mountain was the most cohesive and the Plain was the least cohesive. Over 94% of The Mountain voted similarly on core issues, comparatively the Girondins and the Plain were much more divided with only 70% of Girondins voting similarly on the same issues and only 58% of the Plain voting similarly on the same issues. The first session was held on 20 September 1792. The following day,

12423-464: The twelve committee members at loggerheads; Barère was more a man of the Convention than of the committee and was a link with The Plain. Robert Lindet had qualms about the Terror which, by contrast, was the outstanding theme of Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varenne, latecomers to the committee, forced on it by the sans-culottes in September; unlike Robespierre and his friends, Lazare Carnot had given his support only provisionally and for reasons of state to

12546-405: The votes cast, and the assembly would sit for one year. The executive council of 24 members was chosen by the Legislative Assembly from among the 83 candidates chosen by the departments on the basis of universal male suffrage, and in that way, ministers were made responsible to the representatives. The exercise of popular suffrage was widened through the institution of the referendum. The Constitution

12669-421: The war effort. In order to balance the contradictory demands of these two factions, the Revolutionary Government attempted to maintain a position halfway between the moderate Dantonists ( citras ) and the extremist Hébertists ( ultras ). But at the end of the winter of 1793–94, the shortage of food took a sharp turn for the worse. The Hébertists incited sans-culottes to demand stringent measures, and at first,

12792-433: The whole of France, only eleven primary assemblies wanted to retain the monarchy. The electoral assemblies all tacitly voted for a "republic", though only Paris used that word. The elections returned the same sort of men that the active citizens had chosen in 1791. On 20 September the Convention held its first session in the "Salle des Cent-Suisses", the next day it moved to the Salle du Manège , which had little room for

12915-588: The years to change their particular state's constitutions . All 50 states have had at least one Constitutional Convention, numbering over 233. 11 were illegal and defeated by arms (Confederacy and Dorr's Rebellion). 12 were illegal and won through arms (Revolutionary War, Republic of Texas, and Vermont Republic). 37 were made in accordance with a Federal enabling law. State legislatures put restrictions on conventions that were not followed in these cases. A few countries do not have an entrenched constitution , which can thus be amended by normal legislative procedures;

13038-404: Was a third faction during the Convention. It derived its name from their place on the floor of the Convention. During the start of the Convention, they sided with the Girondins, however, as it progressed and the Montagnards began to push for the execution of Louis XVI , The Plain began to side with them. The Convention's unanimous declaration of a French Republic on 21 September 1792 left open

13161-670: Was consummated on September 27, 1821, and based on the Plan de Iguala and the Treaty of Córdoba , the Provisional Governing Junta was stablished. The Junta proclaimed the Act of Independence of the Mexican Empire and acted as a de facto legislative assembly until February 24, 1822, when the Constituent Congress was gathered. On May 19, 1822, the Constituent Congress proclaimed Agustín de Iturbide as Emperor. The relations between Emperor and Congress were always problematic,

13284-409: Was decreed; on the 10 June, the optional division of common lands by head; and on 17 July, the abolition, without compensation, of all that remained of manorial rights. The Montagnards attempted to reassure the middle classes by rejecting any idea of terror, by protecting property rights and by restricting the popular movement to very narrowly-circumscribed limits. It was a delicate balance to achieve,

13407-514: Was dissolved on 31 January 1948, to be replaced by the new Parliament of Italy . The Viceroyalty of New Spain sent deputies to the Cortes of Cadiz , which enacted the 1812 Constitution . By the time this Constitution was enacted, an insurgency fighting for independence from Spain was already established. The first Constituent Congress of independent Mexico, known as the Congress of Anahuac ,

13530-803: Was elected to write the Constitution of India , and served as its first Parliament as an independent nation. It was set up as a result of negotiations between the leaders of the Indian independence movement and members of the British Cabinet Mission . The constituent assembly was elected indirectly by the members of the Provincial legislative assembly, which existed under the British Raj . It first met on December 9, 1946, in Delhi . On August 15, 1947, India became an independent nation, and

13653-408: Was enacted and the 1824 Constitution, and thus the federation, was restored. On October 16, 1854, President Juan Álvarez , under the Plan de Ayutla , decreed the formation of another Constituent Congress, which met in 1856. During the presidency of Ignacio Comonfort , the Constituent Congress enacted the 1857 Constitution , which was liberal in character. The Constitution was not well received by

13776-405: Was established in 1946 in the wake of Fascist Italy 's defeat during World War II. It was elected with universal suffrage, simultaneously with a referendum about the adoption of Republic or the continuation of monarchy. Voters chose Republic, and the new assembly had the task to approve the new republic governments, as well as to write a new constitution. This was approved on 22 December 1947. It

13899-602: Was first gathered in Chilpancingo whilst the war of independence was still ongoing. During the opening of Congress, José María Morelos outlined its program in a document called Sentimientos de la Nación (Feelings of the Nation), which was the first antecedent of the various Constitutions of Mexico. Being persecuted by royalist troops, the Congress fled Chilpancingo and gathered in Apatzingán . On October 22, 1814,

14022-473: Was held between 1788 and 1792. Its principal aim became to restore sovereignty to, and reform, the federative Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth politically and economically. These attempts were made by writing Constitution of 3 May 1791 that was designed to redress long-standing political defects of the Commonwealth and its system of Golden Liberties . The constitution lasted for merely a year because of

14145-674: Was identified with the Republic, and royalism, which was the ally of the enemy. The royalist insurrection in the Vendée had already led the Convention to take a long step in the direction of the Terror: that is to say, the dictatorship of central power and the suppression of liberties. The Girondin insurrection now prompted it to take a decisive step in the same direction. The Constituent Assembly had legislated through its commissions. The Convention governed by means of its committees . Two of them were of essential importance: Public Safety and General Security . The second, which had formidable powers,

14268-486: Was made to scientists. Monge , Vandermonde , Berthollet , Darcet , Fourcroy perfected metallurgy and manufacture of arms. Only to the wage earners did the Maximum seem thoroughly advantageous. It increased wages by one-half in relation to 1790, and commodities by only one-third. But since the Committee did not ensure that it was respected (except for bread), they would have been duped had they not been benefiting from

14391-517: Was made up of three major factions: The Montagnards ( the Mountain ), the Marais ( the Plain ) and the Girondins , also called Brissotins. Historians are divided on the exact make up of the Convention but the current consensus is that the Mountain was the biggest faction with around 302–309 deputies. The Girondins were represented by 178–227 deputies and the Plain was represented by 153–250 deputies. Of

14514-641: Was overall split in three different groupings: the National liberals , the Friends of Peasants, and the Conservatives . A key topic for discussion was the political system, and the rules governing elections. On 25 May 1849, the constituent assembly approved the new constitution, and on 5 June 1849 it was signed by King Frederick VII . For this reason, it is also known as the June constitution . Today, 5 June

14637-420: Was probably just for a new demonstration, like the one in September. However, the Committee of Public Safety decided on 22 Ventôse Year II (12 March 1794) that the Hébertists posed too serious a threat. The Committee linked Hébert, Charles-Philippe Ronsin , François-Nicolas Vincent , and Antoine-François Momoro to the émigrés Proli, Anacharsis Cloots and Pereira, so as to present the Hébertists as parties to

14760-418: Was redeemed by its vigor and skill in organizing measures of repression. Warrants were issued for the arrest of the rebellious Girondin leaders. The members of the revolting departmental administration were deprived of their office. The regions in which the revolt was dangerous were precisely those in which a large number of royalists had remained. There was no room for a third party between the Mountain, which

14883-485: Was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution , following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the one-year Legislative Assembly . Created after the great insurrection of 10 August 1792 , it was the first French government organized as a republic, abandoning the monarchy altogether. The Convention sat as

15006-523: Was the Committee of Public Safety, vested with immense powers: it interpreted the Convention's decrees and settled their methods of application; under its immediate authority it had all state bodies and all civil servants (even ministers would disappear in April 1794); it directed military and diplomatic activity, appointed generals and members of other committees, subject to ratification by the Convention. It held responsibility for conducting war, public order and

15129-408: Was to be ratified by the people, as were laws in certain precisely defined circumstances. The Constitution was submitted for popular ratification and adopted by a huge margin of more than 1,801,918 in favour to some 17,610 against. The results of the plebiscite were made public on 10 August 1793, but the application of the Constitution, the text of which was placed in an ark in the debating-chamber of

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