the end of class privileges

medallion celebrating the Night of August 4

 

With the "great fear" raging in the countryside, the National Assembly was motivated to move quickly. On the night of August 4, the delegates rose one by one to propose new reforms and to surrender class privileges. The manorial system in which peasants were tied to their landlords through obligations and fees were gone, as was the corvee and all tithing to the church. The nobility and the clergy gave up their exemptions from taxation. By the end of August, feudalism was dead in France. These were called the "August days."

"What glory, what honor to be a Frenchman!"

 

The Night of August 4, 1789 in the National Assembly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité: The French Revolution exhibit