Presentation of the publication
To elect and be elected in the Hérault from 1789 to 1879
Fanny REBOUL – Heritage curator, Director of ancient archives and information systems, Departmental Archives of Hérault
Résumé :
The convocation of the Estates General in 1789 and then the revolutionary period inaugurated a period of political and social changes that continued throughout the 19th century.e century. These have a considerable impact on the involvement of Hérault residents in local and national politics and inaugurate electoral practice. For the men of the XIXe century, marked by the succession of no less than seven different regimes, it was undoubtedly not easy to apprehend their new participation in public and political life with constantly renewed electoral methods. The purpose of this contribution is to show, through the archives kept at the Departmental Archives of Hérault, the evolutions of the vote and the electoral procedures during this period.
Abstract: To elect and be elected in the Herald from 1789 to 1879
The convening of the General States in 1789 and the revolutionary period ushered in a period of political and social change that continued throughout the 19th century. These had a significant impact on the involvement of the people of the Herault region in local and national politics, and ushered in new electoral practice. With a succession of no less than seven different regimes, for the people of the 19th century it was probably not easy to apprehend their new participation in public and political life, with the constant renewal of electoral terms. The purpose of this study is to show the evolution of the vote and the electoral modalities during this period, following studies of archives kept on the Hérault Department.
Summary: To choose and to be chosen in Era from 1789 to 1879
The convocation of the General States in 1789, may the revolutionary period open a series of political and social changes that are pursued throughout the nineteenth century. Changes that have a considerable cover on the involvement of the people of Erau in the local and national policy and release the electoral practice. For the men of century XIX, marked by the succession of not less than seven different regimes, saique was not easy to fit their novel participation to the public and political life with modalities of long changes. The object of this contribution is to show, by means of documents conserved in the departmental Archives of Era, the evolutions of the suffrage and the electoral modalities within that period.
Extract:
On the occasion of the municipal elections (although disrupted by the health context) of spring 2020, it seemed interesting to draw up a historical overview of the methods of election in the Hérault from 1789 until the establishment of the Third Republic. The choice of extreme dates allows us to embrace a century rich in national events through the succession of no less than seven different political regimes. Each regime has brought Hérault residents, like all French people, new rights and a more or less strong involvement in public and political life. Major national events and access to the vote are not unusual in Hérault and are measures experienced by all French people. However, the purpose of this contribution is to compare these events with the archives kept in the Departmental Archives in order to bring them to life. We can thus apprehend in the archives the methods of voting, both the conditions of access to suffrage, constantly renewed (until the middle of the XIXe century at least) than negotiations between parties, government surveillance regardless of the regime but also voting in its material dimension. For the people of Hérault at the time, it was undoubtedly not easy to apprehend their new participation in public and political life, but it gradually and durably established itself throughout this period in mentalities and social practices.
The Estates General of 1789 and the National Constituent Assembly, the first participation of Hérault residents in national political life.
During the 1780s, France experienced social and political tensions which led to strong protest from the population. In 1788, royalty then announced the convocation of the States General for the following year. These assemblies, made up of deputies of the three orders, nobility, clergy and third estate, were held for the last time in 1614.
Notebooks of grievances are produced in all the parishes by the assemblies of inhabitants and are then sent to the seats of the senechaussees where they are synthesized by other assemblies.
In Languedoc, few notebooks of grievances from the Senechaussees of Béziers and Montpellier have reached us, the local losses having been significant. Those which remain are either in the archives of the municipalities, or in the deposits of the municipal archives at the Departmental Archives (sub-series EDT).
The example of Mèze gives an idea of the proposals that are made. After a first part on the instructions received then the recommendations of the assembly to the deputies who will be elected, the wishes and grievances are expressed: ” 8e that the financial administration is no longer shrouded in the shadows of mystery and that an exact and detailed account of receipts and expenses be published every year. […] 27e that the useful projects already exposed to the king’s council concerning the abolition of tolls and customs in the interior of the kingdom be put into execution. 28e that the new institutions of the nation tend to encourage agriculture and trade which are the sources of its wealth […] 31e that every Frenchman having a proven right to learn about government and public affairs and to freely discuss the various interests of the state, the press be granted indefinite freedom in everything that cannot harm the maintenance of good manners and honor of citizens. […] 37e and finally that the natural freedom to fish in ponds adjacent to the sea be irrevocably established and that it is no longer permitted to levy taxes on fishermen ».
The concerns of Hérault residents on the eve of the Revolution relate to their daily lives, to more transparency in public life and their awareness of public affairs is also seen in the recommendations made to the deputies who will bring these complaints to the States General. These are urged ” especially to think that the people will always have an eye open on their behavior, not to insult them by false apprehensions, not to spare in all that will concern the good of the State the efforts and the fortunes of the citizens of which devotion has no other limits than those of their zeal for the country and their love for the sovereign ».
The notebooks synthesized by the assemblies of the senechaussees are then brought to the assembly of the States General by elected deputies.
Elections were held in March 1789 in parish assemblies. All men over 25 registered on the tax roll are electors. The deputies then go to the seats of the senechaussees and designate a quarter of them to take part in the general assembly of the three states of the senechaussee which proceeds to the election of the deputies to the States General. These are very indirect elections but which have the merit of giving the French people the right to speak and the possibility of electing their representatives at the national level.
The Estates General opened on May 5, 1789. On June 20, 1789, by the oath of the Jeu de Paume, the deputies of the third estate made the promise not to separate before the constitution was established. Less than 3 months after their opening, on July 9, they proclaimed themselves the National Constituent Assembly. On July 11, the royal power launched a counter-offensive and concentrated its troops in Paris. The people revolt in the capital and an anti-mobilization push is emerging in the provinces.
The royal power gave way and on August 26, 1789, the declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was proclaimed, which established a National Assembly, made up of representatives of the French people.
From the end of 1789 until 1791, the National Constituent Assembly set about preparing the new Constitution intended to govern France, sanctioned by the King on September 13, 1791. New elections were then organized to replace this assembly.
At the same time, at the local level, from 1789, an administrative reorganization of France took place: establishment of the municipalities on December 14, 1789; creation of departments and districts on January 15, 1790, each with elected councils which sit in sessions and a permanent directory which ensures continuity. The attributions of these bodies are broad in the fiscal field, public works, the police, education, assistance, the raising of troops.
Following the establishment of the municipalities, the example of the municipal deliberations of Castelnau-de-Guers clearly shows the split between the consular councils until December 1789 and the election of municipal officers and the mayor during the council of January 31, 1790. …
If the archives relating to all the elections of deputies have not reached us in series L (series devoted to the revolutionary period), one can nevertheless find many documents there which attest to the modalities of election and the implication of Hérault in political life, whether local or national. Documents relating to the elections during this period can also be found in municipal archives, whether they are deposited in the Departmental Archives (EDT series) or kept in the municipality. […]
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