THE AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: PROGRESSIVE OR TRADITIONAL

This dissertation is a contribution toward an explanation of why French agriculture remained after the Revolution of 1789 very much what it had been at the beginning. It asks why the legislation of the Revolution failed to solve the problems that blocked the modernization of agriculture in France. The dissertation characterizes the improvements that took place in English agriculture during the century before the Revolution of 1789. It outlines the obstacles to agricultural growth in eighteenth century France. It discusses the agronomic movement in the second half of the eighteenth century in France. Content analysis of the literature of the agronomes is used to create an index of agronomic thought that can be employed as a standard by which to measure the agricultural thought and policies of the revolutionaries.;The following conclusions are drawn. Lack of available technology is not a tenable explanation for the failure to initiate an agricultural revolution. The food shortages and political turmoil of the Revolution did preclude agricultural reform, but the absence of a dramatic upsurge in agricultural modernization after the political turmoil ceased in 1815 suggests that this explanation is incomplete.;The evidence suggests that physiocracy restrained the activity of the Constituents and the deputies to the Legislative Assembly, but not that of the conventionnels. Fear of resistance was sometimes offered as an excuse by the deputies, but it never prevented them from enacting policies upon which they were determined. On the other hand, many of the deputies serving on the agriculture committees, particularly those of the Convention, lacked agricultural expertise and made little effort to gain any. The Agriculture Committee of the Legislative Assembly, blessed with substantial agricultural expertise, showed a reluctance to draft any legislation. Deputies to the agriculture committees of all three assemblies had poor attendance records. They devoted their energies to nonagricultural activities and gave precedence in agriculture committee activity to nonagricultural topics. The agricultural legislation of the French Revolution did not contribute to the modernization of French agriculture because conditions were unfavorable and because the deputies did not take an interest in making it happen.;The dissertation analyzes in turn the agricultural discussion and legislation of each of the first three revolutionary assemblies in France, 1789-1795. It focuses particularly on the committees in those assemblies that bore the primary responsibility for formulating agricultural policy. Content analysis of the agricultural programs of those committed is employed to determine what was the revolutionary agricultural program and what were the strengths, weaknesses, and omissions in those programs vis-a-vis the effort of the agronomes. Four hypotheses are tested: (1) That the revolutionary assemblies accepted the physiocratic doctrine of the absolute freedom of property rights and were thereby opposed to requiring owners and tenants to adopt progressive agricultural practices; (2) That fear of resistance by peasants and property owners deterred the revolutionary assemblies from passing laws that were progressive; (3) That those who drafted the agricultural legislation of the French Revolution may have been unprepared to understand the advantages of new agricultural methods or may have lacked interest in progressive agricultural legislation; (4) That the bodies responsible for drafting that agricultural legislation may have been diverted from it by competing responsibilities or political distractions.