Jean-Pierre Lamotte-Rateau (24 April 1800 – 22 March 1887) was a French lawyer and politician who represented the department of

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the r ...

in the Constituent Assembly and then the Legislature during the

French Second Republic The French Second Republic ( or ), officially the French Republic (), was the second republican government of France. It existed from 1848 until its dissolution in 1852. Following the final defeat of Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle ...

. He is known as author of the Rateau proposal to dissolve the Constituent Assembly before all the organic laws had been passed, this preventing any reduction in the powers of the President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte.

Early years (1800–48)

Jean-Pierre Lamotte-Rateau was born on 24 April 1800 in Aubeterre, Charente. He studied law and obtained a degree at the Faculty of Paris in 1820. He joined the bar in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

on 10 December 1821, and became known as a strong speaker. He became involved in politics. He supported the government of

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

, but sided with the

dynastic A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. Historians ...

opposition in asking for electoral reform to add capabilities. Under this program he was appointed a member of the General Council of

Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.

Second Republic (1848–51)

After the

February Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (), also known as the February Revolution (), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked t ...

Rateau ran for election to the Constituent Assembly and was elected as fifth of 6 with 37,839 out of 92,994 votes. He represented Charente in the National Constituent Assembly from 23 April 1848 to 26 May 1849. He sat with the Right parliamentary group. He was a member of the Justice Committee, and normally voted with the right. He voted for the restoration of security and physical coercion, for prosecution of

Louis Blanc Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc ( ; ; 29 October 1811 – 6 December 1882) was a French Socialism, socialist politician, journalist and historian. He called for the creation of cooperatives in order to job guarantee, guarantee employment for t ...

and

Marc Caussidière Marc Caussidière (; 18 May 1808 – 27 January 1861) was a significant personality of the French Republicans under the Restoration, French republican movement of the first half of the 19th century. Biography Caussidière was born in Geneva. ...

, against abolition of the death penalty, against the

Jules Grévy François Judith Paul Grévy (15 August 1807 – 9 September 1891), known as Jules Grévy (), was a French people, French lawyer and politician who served as President of France from 1879 to 1887. He was a leader of the Opportunist Republicans, M ...

amendment to suppress the Presidency of the Republic, against the right to work, for the agenda in honor of

Louis-Eugène Cavaignac Louis-Eugène Cavaignac (; 15 October 1802 – 28 October 1857) was a French general and politician who served as head of the executive power of France between June and December 1848, during the French Second Republic. Born in Paris to a promi ...

, against reduction of the salt tax, against amnesty, for prohibition of clubs and for credits of the Expedition to Rome to remove the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

and restore the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. After the presidential election of 10 December 1848 he supported the government of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. Rateau was the author of the Rateau proposal, which was to dissolve the Constituent Assembly before it had drafted and voted on the organic laws. This proposal, supported by the followers of Louis Napoleon, was intended to end the opposition to presidential power by the majority. Rateau proposed that 19 March 1849 be fixed as the date when the Constituent Assembly would be dissolved and replaced by a new Legislative Assembly. By forcing early elections Rateau and others on the right seem to have expected that the Republican-oriented assembly would be replaced by a more conservative assembly due to the loss of popular support for the Republic after the

June Days uprising The June Days uprising () was an uprising staged by French workers from 22 to 26 June 1848. It was in response to plans to close the National Workshops, created by the Second Republic in order to provide work and a minimal source of income f ...

strongly opposed ending the Constituent Assembly before it had passed all the organic laws need to complement the constitution. Proposition Rateau par Cham

At the session of 12 January 1849 the Rateau proposal was supported by

Aurélien de Seze :''see also Aurélien (given name), for individuals with the masculine given name. ''Aurélien'' is a novel by Louis Aragon, the fourth of the ''Le Monde réel'' cycle. It was ranked 51st in ''Le Mondes 100 Books of the Century. Plot ''A ...

Charles de Montalembert Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

and

Odilon Barrot Camille Hyacinthe Odilon Barrot (; 19 July 1791 – 6 August 1873) was a French politician who was briefly head of the council of ministers under king Louis Phillipe in 1848–49. Early life Barrot was born at Villefort, Lozère. He belonged ...

, Minister of Justice and President of the council. The recommendation of the Justice Committee that the Rateau proposal be thrown out was put to the vote and rejected by 400 votes to 396, and the proposal remained under consideration. However, the next day

Napoléon Joseph Curial Napoléon Joseph Curial (9 January 1809 – 22 September 1861) was a French peer and politician. Early years (1809–48) Napoléon Joseph Curial was born in Paris on 9 January 1809. His family originated in Savoy. His parents were Count Philibe ...

François Joseph Ducoux François Joseph Ducoux (11 September 1808 – 23 March 1873) was a French physician, left-wing politician and businessman. He served as a military physician from 1828 to 1838 before settling in Blois and engaging in local politics. He was a repre ...

and

Félix Chadenet Félix Jean-Baptiste Chadenet (7 April 1798 – 24 September 1874) was a French lawyer, civil servant and politician who twice represented the department of Meuse in the legislature. He had right wing views and supported Prince Louis-Napoleon (Na ...

wrote letters that disputed the accuracy of the vote count. The Rateau proposal was revived on 29 January 1849, when the recommendation of the committee that the Assembly should pass all the organic laws before dissolution was rejected by 416 votes to 405. Armand Fresneau,

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

and Mathieu de Combarel de Leyval supported the Rateau proposal, which was definitively adopted, despite lengthy counter arguments by

Jules Favre Jules Claude Gabriel Favre (21 March 1809 – 20 January 1880) was a French statesman and lawyer. After the establishment of the Third Republic in September 1870, he became one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans in the National Assemb ...

. The Rateau proposal was adopted after an amendment proposed by Victor Lanjuinais by 470 votes to 337. In the elections on 13 May 1849 Rateau was elected to the Legislative Assembly by 48,424, votes out of 79,163. He again sat with the Right parliamentary group. After being reelected Rateau continued to be hostile to the Republic, voted for the law of 31 May 1850^{( fr)} that restricted male universal suffrage and voted for revision of the constitution. He voted for the Rome expedition and for the Falloux-Parieu law on education. However, he remained attached to the parliamentary system and refused to support the policy of the

Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (, ) is the official residence of the President of France, President of the French Republic in Paris. Completed in 1722, it was built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, a nobleman and army officer who had been appointed g ...

to the end.

Last years (1851–87)

After the coup d'état of 2 December 1851 in which Napoleon III seized power Rateau returned to private life, and resumed his place at the Bordeaux Bar, of which he was president in 1838, 1856 and 1873. He was made a Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1873. Rateau died on 22 March 1887 in Bordeaux.

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rateau, Jean-Pierre 1800 births 1887 deaths People from Charente Orléanists Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic Members of Parliament for Charente French general councillors 19th-century French lawyers Knights of the Legion of Honour