Background
Pierre-Joseph Cambon was born on June 10, 1756. His father was a wealthy cotton merchant at Montpellier.
Pierre-Joseph Cambon was born on June 10, 1756. His father was a wealthy cotton merchant at Montpellier.
In January 1790 Pierre-Joseph Cambon returned to Montpellier, was elected a member of the municipality, was one of the founders of the Jacobin club in that city, and on the flight of Louis XVI in 1791, he drew up a petition to invite the Constituent Assembly to proclaim a republic, -the first in date of such petitions. Elected to the Legislative Assembly, Cambon became notedforhisindependence, his honesty and his ability in finance. He was the most active member of the committee of finance and was often charged to verify the state of the treasury. Nothing could be more false than the common opinion that as a financier his sole expedient was to multiply the emissions of assignats. His remarkable speech of the 24th of November 1791 is a convincing proof of his sagacity. In politics, while he held aloof from the clubs, and even from parties, he was an ardent defender of the new institutions. On the 9th of February 1792, he succeeded in having a law passed sequestrating the possessions of the emigres, and demanded, though in vain, the deportation of refractory priests to French Guiana. He was the last president of the Legislative Assembly. Re-elected to the Convention, he opposed the pretensions of the Commune and the proposed grant of money to the municipality of Paris by the state. He denounced Marat's placards as inciting to murder, summoned Danton to give an account of his ministry, watched carefully over the furnishing of military supplies, and was a strong opponent of Dumouriez, in spite of the general's great. popularity.
Cambon was independent, honest, talented in the financial domain.
