This Day in History: 21 March 2020
21 March 1804
216 years ago, today, French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, instituted a new legal structure, after four years of debates, known as the 'Napoleonic Code'. This gave a civil code to post-revolutionary France, as it was the first logical set of laws that concerned property, colonial affairs, the family and individual rights. When the planning started, General Napoleon Bonaparte began the tedious task of reassessing France's ineffective legal system, as he was the country's new dictator. To do this, he established a special commission, led by J.J. Cambaceres, that met more than 80 times to thoroughly discuss the revolutionary legal revisions. Napoleon dominated over nearly half of these meetings, and in March 1804, the Napoleonic Code was finally approved.
This code consisted of several branches of law, including commercial and criminal, while also dividing civil law into categories of property and family. The legal framework also made the authority of men over their families stronger, and so deprived women of any individual rights, and also reduced the rights of illegitimate children. Every male citizen was given equal rights under the law, however, and the right to religious disagreement. Despite this, colonial slavery was reintroduced. These laws applied to all territories that were under Napoleon's control, and so were influential in many other European countries and in South America.
Want to find out more about Napoleon Bonaparte and the Napoleonic Code? Click here for more information.
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