National Convention

National Convention

https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/1103/

1103

Elected in September 1792 to write a constitution that would not include the King, this body held power until 5 Brumaire Year IV (27 October 1795). Elected via universal manhood suffrage, this assembly functioned as both the executive and legislative branches of government. It tried the King, executed him after a lengthy and divisive trial, prosecuted a war with most of Europe, faced enormous fiscal problems and two internal rebellions. In addition, a constitution written and submitted to the public in 1793 was suspended “until the peace.” The depth of these crises led it to resort to a systematic use of Terror as a method of facing the situation. The Convention also delegated much of its power to a twelve-member Committee of Public Safety headed by Maximillien Robespierre for nearly a year in 1793–94, until after the coup of 9 Thermidor (27 July). It took more than a year after the end of the Reign of Terror for the Convention to submit once again to the will of the voters, but it tried to limit continuing factionalism by promulgating a new constitution—that of 1795—and requiring that two-thirds of the deputies to the new legislature be current members of the Convention. Despite concrete achievements, the Convention failed to dampen factional violence and place the republic on secure footing.