Jacques Godard

Approximately thirty thousand Jews lived in France (a mostly Catholic nation) when the French Revolution began. However, unlike Protestants—another religious minority—French Jews did not have the rights of citizens. For nearly two years the National Assembly, France’s legislative body during the first stage of the revolution, debated the question of Jewish citizenship. On September 27, 1791, Jews were finally awarded the rights of citizens.

In the following viewpoint, excerpted from a petition delivered to the National Assembly on January 28, 1790, lawyer Jacques Godard argues in favor of citizenship. According to Godard, who writes on behalf of Jewish communities, Jews deserve citizenship because they have lived as French subjects and, therefore, should not be considered foreigners. He points out that because Jews have paid into the government in the form of taxes, just like...