Kollontay was the main instigator of the democratic reforms, and on November 24, 1789, a group of 269 representatives from 141 cities across the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth arrived in the capital to sign “the United Cities Act.” Kollontay helped the townsfolk draft a proclamation demanding that they be allowed to own land and elect representatives to the Seym. They were inspired by the rise of the “third estate” in France, where burgher townspeople and rural peasants were demanding new rights. On December 2 the burghers, led by Warsaw mayor, Jan Dekert, dressed in black and marched down
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