The passport restrictions on movement voted by the Assembly in early 1792 held sway for a number of months as France faced intensified hostility from within and without. Toward the end of the year, however, the deputies came around to the view that the restrictions on movement within France, at least, were proving counterproductive. In response to claims that the provisioning of Paris was suffering greatly under the restraints on “the circulation of goods and people,” the Assembly in early September adopted a decree reestablishing “free circulation” and abolishing the clauses of the law of
...more
