Who Were Not Considered Passive Citizens? (French Revolution)

The French Constitution of 1791 introduced a sharp distinction between two types of citizens:

Active Citizens: Men who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a laborer's wage. Only these citizens had the RIGHT TO VOTE and participate in elections.

Passive Citizens: Everyone else — they enjoyed basic civil rights (freedom of speech, equality before law) but had NO right to vote.

The following groups were explicitly classified as passive citizens and denied voting rights:

1. Women: ALL women, regardless of wealth or education, were completely denied the vote. This was one of the most glaring contradictions of the 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity' slogan.

2. Poor Men: Men who did not pay sufficient taxes (the very poor) were denied voting rights.

3. Non-taxpaying Males: Any man, however educated, who did not meet the tax qualification.

In total, out of France's ~28 million people, only about 4 million men qualified as 'Active Citizens' with the right to vote.

Revolutionary women like Olympe de Gouges fiercely challenged this hypocrisy. She wrote the 'Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen' (1791), arguing that if women were equal citizens, they must have equal voting rights.

She was eventually guillotined in 1793 — silenced by the very revolution that claimed to champion liberty.