May Constitution of Poland
Government Act of May 3, 1791 (Ustawa rządowa z 3ego Maja 1791, also May 3rd Constitution) was the first written national constitution in Europe, and the world's second, after the United States Constitution. The May 3rd Constitution was adopted by the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on May 3, 1791.
Importance of the constitution
Polish King Stanislaw August's campaign for national renewal reached a climax on May 3rd, 1791, when, after three years of intense debate, the "Four-Year Sejm" produced Europe's first written national constitution. Conceived in the liberal spirit of the contemporaneous document in the United States, the constitution recast the erstwhile Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as a unitary state with a hereditary monarchy, and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system. The new constitution abolished the individual "free veto" (liberum veto) in the sejm (parliament); provided for a separation of powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government; and established "popular sovereignty" (for the noble--szlachta--and bourgeois classes). Although never fully implemented, the May 3rd Constitution gained an honored place in the Polish political heritage; tradition marks the anniversary of its adoption as the country's most important civic holiday.
Principal features of the May 3rd Constitution included:
- a greater degree of unification of the state;
- religious tolerance, except for apostasy from the Catholic faith;
- granting of political rights to citizens of the cities;
- abolition of the liberum veto and confederations; and
- provision for free election of a king only following the extinction of an anticipated Saxon dynasty.
Chief authors of the May 3rd Constitution were:
- King Stanislaw August Poniatowski
- Hugo Kołłątaj
- Ignacy Potocki
- Stanisław Małachowski, Marshal of the Sejm
- Stanisław Staszic
- Scipione Piattoli
Text of the Constitution
Polish and English versions are available at Wikisource. See also external links below.
See also
External links
- Polishconstitution.org - site about the Polish May 3rd Constitution that contributed texts to wikisource (http://www.polishconstitution.org/index1.html)
pl:Konstytucja 3 Maja