Question

What was one of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime?

Answer 1

Hint: The demise of the Jacobin administration gave the upper middle classes the opportunity to seize control. Non-property portions of society were denied the right to vote under a new constitution. It established two legislative councils that were elected by the people. They then appointed a Directory, a five-member executive committee.

Complete answer:
The eradication of slavery in the French colonies was one of the Jacobin regime's most significant social reforms. Tobacco, indigo, sugar, and coffee were all key exports from the Caribbean colonies of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and San Domingo. However, Europeans' aversion to working in faraway and unknown areas resulted in a labour shortage on the estates.

As a result, the triangular slave trade was established between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Slavery was first practised in the seventeenth century. Slaves were purchased from local chieftains by French merchants sailing from the ports of Bordeaux and Nantes to the African coast. The slaves were branded and shackled and crammed into ships for the three-month journey across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.

Plantation owners purchased them there. Slave labour enabled European sugar, coffee, and indigo markets to fulfil rising demand. The robust slave trade helped port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes develop economically. Slavery received little criticism in France throughout the eighteenth century.

Note: Long arguments raged in the National Assembly over whether man's rights should be extended to all French subjects, including those in the colonies. But, anticipating opposition from slave-trade-dependent businesspeople, it did not approve any legislation. Finally, in 1794, the Convention legislated the abolition of all slaves in French overseas holdings.