National Convention

The National Convention was an assembly, meeting in France from September 21st, 1792 until October 26, 1795. This was the third assembly of the French Revolution. It came after the Legislative Assembly and founded the First Republic. The first act of the National Convention was to get rid of the monarchy.^[1] The Legislative Assembly had decided that after Louis XVI was no longer king, a new government would need to create a French constitution. It was decided that all French men over the age of twenty-five would be able to vote, despite class. The winners of this election formed the National Convention. Men on the National Convention would be on the National Convention for a year, followed by another election.

The National Convention became known as the most radical part of the French Revolution. It took land away from the Nobility and sold it to peasants.^[2] A number of other reforms were carried out. A decree of the 10th of June 1793 readmitted instalment payments and suppressed sale on cash while also providing land distribution for the benefit of the poor.^[3] Decrees dated the 12th of December 1792, the 30th of May 1793 and the 21st of October 1793 ordered and provided for the setting up of primary schools.^[4] In 1793 a network of rural health officers was established, with the responsibility of monitoring public health.^[5]

Under an Act of June the 28th 1793, as noted by one study, “fathers and mothers depending entirely upon their own labor had a right to national assistance when their wages were inadequate for their family needs.”^[6] Assistance for the physically disabled and home medical care was also established.^[7] Pensions were provided to the needy, while the claim of the wife upon property held in common with the husband was abolished. Negro slavery was also abolished, along with the practice of imprisoning men for debt.^[8] In 1794, a decree was passed establishing a system of insurance and investments against sickness and old age. This plan, however, was abandoned by the directory. ^[9]

In the Reign of Terror it sent thousands of people to the guillotine for execution.^[2] in 1793 they voted to execute Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette.^[10]

1. ↑ James Maxwell Anderson, Daily Life During the French Revolution (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2007), p. 16
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Christine Sowder; Bill Williams, The French Revolution (Culver City, CA: Social Studies School Service, 2007), p. 530
3. ↑ Twenty-Six Centuries of Agrarian Reform: A Comparative Analysis by Elias H. Tuma, 2023, P.63
4. ↑ National Education: Systems, Institutions and Statistics of Public Instruction in Different Countries, Part II, by Henry Barnard, 1872, P.227
5. ↑ Pilgrims in Medicine Conscience, Legalism, and Human Rights : an Allegory of Medical Humanities, Foundational Virtues, Ethical Principles, Law and Human Rights in Medical, Personal, and Professional Development By Thomas Alured Faunce, 2005, P.141
6. ↑ Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Issues 397–406 1925, P.18
7. ↑ Poverty, Charity, and Motherhood Maternal Societies in Nineteenth-Century France By Christine Adams, 2010, P.45
8. ↑ The French revolution, 1789-1815 by Shailer Mathews, NEW IMPRESSION 1927, P.247
9. ↑ Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor: Workmen's Insurance and Compensation Systems in Europe, Volume I, P.833
10. ↑ Paul R. Hanson, Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004), pp. xvii–xviii