Equality In The French Civil Code

The French Civil Code established under Napoleon I in 1804 focused much of its structure and efforts on equality, equality in the eyes of the law that was. This meant that the written law would be available to everyone, and it was also thought that privileges would not be a problem because social classes would not exist or be of importance. However, it is known that this was not entirely true. This was only true under the written law but in practice it was very much different. Equality did not exist, it was only a false promise and an illusion. The poor and working-class would soon find this out and out of it would grow a class-consciousness. It was a time where the abstractions of natural law were revealed, and poor workers would not stand …show more content…
Lest they be left behind and not included in the “all”. This is what some may mark as the rise of early “feminism” in France. After the March on Versailles in October 1789, the Women’s Petition to the Assembly was produced and presented to the French National Assembly in November that same year. This was a petition proposing that the assembly grant women equality during the French Revolution. In the petition they addressed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen where they noted how it literally only addressed the rights of men and it made it so “the poor villager is no longer obliged to grovel before the proud seigneur of his parish; the unfortunate vassal can halt in his tracks the impetuous boar that piteously ravaged his crops; the timid soldier dares to complain when he is run down by the splendid coach of the superb publican; the modest priest can sit down in ease at the table of his most illustrious and most reverend superior; . . . the black African will no longer find himself compared to a stupid animal which, goaded by the prod of a fierce driver, irrigates our furrows with his sweat and blood” as it stated in the Women’s Petition to the National Assembly. They were furious that again they were still being pushed to the side and ignored. The National Assembly, however, didn’t receive the petition very well saying …show more content…
This was until Napoleon entered the scene and attempted to unify everything through codification. He wanted to create structure with written guidelines for everyone to follow. Again, he had brought up the idea of written equality that had so heavily been discussed during the revolution into play. Ultimately, he followed suit and wrote it into the code he’d devised but unfortunately what the women of the time had feared also happened. Women’s rights were not a part of the code. Only a few changes were made when it came to women’s rights but they were hardly a great achievement. Under the Napoleonic Code the only thing that helped women was the right to a social contract when it came to marriage. This helped women seem less like objects of ownership being passed down from the authority of their father to their husbands. Now, she could not be forced to marry someone she did not want. However, once married, her powerlessness was still there once again. When it came to divorce, it was still as difficult as ever. A man could still commit adultery and get away with it with little to no repercussion as long as he had not brought the mistress into the home. The old law still applied however if a woman committed adultery. She would be punished or sent to a convent and her children would be taken from her. Divorce required a long process of getting consent from family members,