What is the main aim of constitution 1791 and which rights were granted by it to the people
Answers
Answer:
The Constitution of 1791 was the revolutionary government’s first attempt at a written constitutional document. Motivated by Enlightenment ideas and the American Revolution, it was intended to define the limits of power in the new government. By the time of its adoption, however, the situation in France had changed significantly and the Constitution of 1791 was no longer fit for purpose.
Desire for a framework
The road to a constitution began on June 20th, 1789, when the newly formed National Assembly gathered in a Versailles tennis court and pledged not to disband until France had a working constitution.
Their desire for a constitution was a product of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution. The deputies of the Third Estate believed that any reforms to the Ancien Régime must be outlined in and guaranteed by a written framework. A constitution would define the authority, structure, and powers of the new government. This would prevent or limit the abuses and injustices of the old order.
The National Assembly set about drafting a national constitution almost immediately. The process was a long and difficult one, hampered by differences of opinion, growing radicalism, and the events of 1789-91.
Their deliberations eventually produced the Constitution of 1791, which was ratified in September that year. This document established a constitutional monarchy and incorporated several political ideas from the Enlightenment. The fate of the 1791 Constitution, however, hinged on the attitude and actions of King Louis XVI.
Why a written constitution?
Fascination with constitutions and constitutional government was a creature of the Enlightenment. Before the 18th century, monarchical and absolutist governments acted without any written constitution. The structures and power of government were shaped and limited by internal forces and events – if they were limited at all.
Britain, to cite one example, had no written constitution. The power of the British monarchy had been constrained by Britain’s nobility, its parliament, the Civil War (1642-51), the Glorious Revolution (1688), and other factors – but these constraints were agreed rather than prescribed. Over time, the British system developed a balance of power between monarch, parliament, aristocracy, and judiciary.
But this idea that political power would sort itself out over time was not acceptable to Enlightenment philosophers. Men like John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Thomas Paine believed that the government must be founded on rational principles and organized in a way that best serves the people. The best device for ensuring this was a written constitution, a foundation law that defines the structures and powers of government, as well as rules and instructions for its operation.
The American model
The French revolutionaries had before them a working model of a national constitution. The United States Constitution was drafted in 1787 and ratified by the American states the following year. The American constitution embraced and codified several Enlightenment ideas, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau‘s popular sovereignty and Montesquieu’s separation of powers.
There was one significant difference: the American constitution established a republican political system with an elected president as its chief executive. In France in 1789-90, the National Constituent Assembly remained wedded to the idea of a constitutional monarchy. The Assembly wanted to retain the king but to ensure that his executive power was subordinate to both the law and the public good.
This presented the Assembly with two concerns. First, they had to find a constitutional role for the king and determine what political powers, if any, he should retain. Second, a constitutional monarchy would be entirely dependent on having a king loyal to the constitution. In the years that followed, both would cause problems for the national government.
Explanation:
Please mark me as the brainliest if it has helped you.