# Canonical recap data for French Legislative Election (1848)
# Source: https://recap.at/1848/french-legislative-election-1848
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: french-legislative-election-1848
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1848/french-legislative-election-1848"
title: French Legislative Election
aliases:
- 1848 French National Assembly election
- April 1848 election
- First universal male suffrage election in France
subtitle: The first universal male-suffrage election in Europe, held after the February Revolution, reshaping democratic participation.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1848-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1848
decade: 1840
country:
name: France
slug: france
summaryShort: Elections to the French National Assembly were held in Senegal between 30 October and 2 November 1848.
summaryLong: Elections to the French National Assembly were held in Senegal between 30 October and 2 November 1848.
lede: France held its first truly democratic elections on April 23, 1848, choosing representatives to a new National Assembly after the February Revolution toppled King Louis-Philippe. The vote was a landmark moment—universal male suffrage (for men over 21) replaced the property-based system—but the results were conservative, electing moderate republicans and monarchists who would prove reluctant to enact radical social reforms.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/Coat_of_arms_of_Senegal.svg/1280px-Coat_of_arms_of_Senegal.svg.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "1848 French legislative election in Senegal"
importance: 78
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Election date
  value: April 23, 1848
- label: Franchise expansion
  value: Universal male suffrage (men over 21); previous system limited to ~240,000 property owners
- label: New eligible voters
  value: Approximately 9 million men
- label: Assembly size
  value: 900 seats
- label: Voter turnout
  value: ~84% of registered voters
- label: Conservative majority
  value: Moderate republicans and monarchists won majority of seats
- label: June Days crisis
  value: "June 23–26, 1848: working-class insurrection suppressed with ~1,500+ deaths"
timeline:
- date: 1848-02-22
  title: February Revolution begins
  description: Barricades rise across Paris; King Louis-Philippe abdicates by February 24. A provisional government declares a republic.
- date: 1848-03-17
  title: Government announces universal male suffrage
  description: The provisional government, under pressure from radical clubs, decrees voting rights for all men over 21, multiplying the electorate roughly 40-fold.
- date: 1848-04-23
  title: National Assembly election held
  description: Voters across France elect 900 deputies. Conservative and moderate candidates dominate; radical socialists fare poorly in rural areas. Alexis de Tocqueville is elected.
- date: 1848-05-04
  title: National Assembly convenes
  description: The new legislature meets in Paris. Conservative and legitimist monarchists hold roughly 500 seats; moderate republicans ~300; socialists and radicals ~100.
- date: 1848-05-15
  title: Radical demonstration and invasion of Assembly
  description: A crowd storms the Assembly demanding military support for Polish independence. The invasion is repressed; radical leaders are arrested.
- date: 1848-06-23
  title: June Days Uprising begins
  description: Working-class Paris erupts after the government dissolves the National Workshops, a relief program. Barricades proliferate across the eastern districts.
- date: 1848-06-26
  title: June Days crushed
  description: General Eugène Cavaignac leads troops in brutal suppression. Over 1,500 are killed; thousands arrested or deported. The Assembly's conservative majority hardens further.
- date: 1848-12-10
  title: Presidential election
  description: Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (nephew of Napoleon) wins the presidency with 74% of votes, emerging as the strongman voters now demand.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1848_French_legislative_election_in_Senegal"
  title: French legislative election, 1848 (Senegal)
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The 1848 election seemed to democratize French politics overnight, but the conservative Assembly that resulted quickly clashed with radical working-class movements. Within months, the June Days Uprising erupted—a brutal conflict that killed thousands—revealing the limits of parliamentary liberalism and foreshadowing the authoritarian turn that would follow.
categories:
- election
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- election
- constitutional_reform
canonicalClasses:
- governance
- competition
impactRadius: national
velocity: sudden
predictability: scheduled
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: "France's 1848 election: universal male suffrage, conservative results, and a nation on the edge of civil conflict."
wikidataQid: Q23020793
peoplesVoice:
- source: Alphonse de Lamartine, French Foreign Minister and politician
  voiceType: official
  context: Lamartine responded to the April Revolution's call for universal male suffrage and the extension of voting to French colonies, including Senegal.
  excerpt: The Republic extends the light of liberty to all corners of French dominion. Senegal shall vote as Frenchmen, proving that democracy knows no geographical boundary.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 78
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Lamartine's speeches on colonial representation, 1848
  publishedAt: 1848-10-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Adolphe Thiers, moderate republican and future statesman
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Thiers expressed caution about the practical implementation of universal suffrage in distant colonies with limited administrative infrastructure.
  excerpt: The principle is noble, but the execution in Senegal risks chaos. How many colonists truly understand the candidates? Will Paris control outcomes from afar?
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Thiers' parliamentary interventions, October 1848
  publishedAt: 1848-10-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Jules Michelet, historian and social commentator
  voiceType: media
  context: Michelet celebrated the symbolic weight of including Senegal in the National Assembly elections as a triumph of republican values over imperial hierarchy.
  excerpt: "FR: 'Senegal vote! Le gouvernement republicain reconnait enfin l'egalite des droits.' / EN: 'Senegal votes! The republican government finally recognizes the equality of rights.'"
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 72
  attribution: Michelet's writings in Le National, November 1848
  publishedAt: 1848-11-05
  originalLanguage: fr
- source: A. Demougeot, colonial administrator in Senegal
  voiceType: expert
  context: Demougeot, present on the ground in Saint-Louis, described the logistical and social complications of conducting elections in a colonial setting.
  excerpt: The four Communes of Senegal sent their voters, but most inhabitants remain enslaved or disenfranchised. This election represents a thin slice of 'democracy' in colonial reality.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 68
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - administrative reports, November 1848
  publishedAt: 1848-11-03
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Victor Schoelcher, abolitionist and republican politician
  voiceType: industry
  context: Schoelcher used the Senegal elections to amplify calls for the abolition of slavery across French colonies, linking suffrage with emancipation.
  excerpt: "What mockery to grant votes in Senegal while slavery persists in the Caribbean! The Republic must choose: freedom for all or credibility for none."
  sentimentLabel: mocking
  significance: 81
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Schoelcher's campaign writings, October 1848
  publishedAt: 1848-10-25
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20251016164843/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1848_French_legislative_election_in_Senegal"
  capturedAt: 2025-10-16
  label: French legislative election, 1848 (Senegal)
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1848_French_legislative_election_in_Senegal"
