The National Assembly of France

National assembly would soon divide the french population into two types of people, active citizens and passive citizens. Active citizens meant property holding males over the age of 25 who could not be classified as a servant. This was perfectly in keeping with enlightened political philosophy that assumed you couldn't possibly have a say in government unless you had an ownership stake in the nation. So of the nearly 30 million people living in france, active citizenship could only be claimed by about for million people. As the years passed and the revolution just kept trucking along, this distinction between active and passive citizens would become a major problem.