a. “Since a national constitution and public liberty are more advantageous to the provinces than the privileges which some of them enjoy, and the sacrifice of which is necessary for the close union of all parts of the realm, all special privileges of provinces, principalities, pays, cantons, cities, and communities of inhabitants, whether pecuniary or of any other kind, are declared abolished forever, and shall be absorbed into the law common to all Frenchmen.”
The Abolition of the Feudal Regime, 4th August 1789
! !
On the 4th August 1979, the National Assembly drafted a decree as an attempt to abolish feudalism and improve the lives of the ‘Third Estate,’ consisting of the bourgeoisie and peasants. In the weeks prior to the issuing of the decree, peasants had been revolting in the rural areas, burning down houses belonging to nobility and destroying records belonging to holders of seigneurial rights in resistance to the rumour that King Louis XVI was attempting to restore his authority by military force. These weeks of revolt and destruction became known as the Great Fear. The National Assembly saw themselves as the only solution and way of bringing about revolutionary change. With the whole country facing the possibility of collapse and disorder, they were left with little choice but to either quell the uprisings using military means or address the apparent grievances of the peasants.
!
The Great Fear exposed the lack of authority and vulnerability of the French government and the prolonged revolts, riots and massacres seemed to be only gaining momentum and so it was decided by the National Assembly that a social reform aimed at achieving peace and harmony was necessary. On the evening of the 4th august 1979 the National Assembly drafted a proclamation regarding the restoration of order amongst the public. Liberal nobles such as Duc
