On December 23, 1789 Count Stanislas of Clermont-Tonnere gave a speech to the French Constituent National Assembly that sparked a subsequent debate on the right of citizenship for Jews and members of certain professions. In The French National Assembly: Debate on the Eligibility of Jews for Citizenship he elaborates specifically on many of his points concerning the Jews, but neglects mentioning the specific offended professions he enumerated in his initial speech. Monsieur Clermont-Tonnere primarily appeals to the idea that the adherents of Judaism are not fundamentally undeserving of French citizenship and that the ideals of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen should apply universally to all men as it should have been intended. This document also presents a contrasting speech giving by Anne-Lois de la Fare. Monsieur de la Fare was the bishop of the city of Nancy, France; he gives the argument that French citizenship cannot be conferred primarily because not only would it harm France but it would harm the Jews themselves as well. What both Messieurs Clermonte-Tonnerre and de la Fare do agree on is that the Jews cannot be treated as separate nation within France, to have a nation within a nation would be folly, and to grant citizenship to the nested nation would only cause unrest. .
For any person to be granted citizenship to more than one nation during this time would be egregious. During this initial time of nation building, being a national of more than one nation simply does not make sense. Ernst Renan says, "A large aggregate of men, healthy in mind and warm of heart, creates the kind of moral conscience which we call a nation. So long as this moral consciousness gives proof of its strength by the sacrifices which demand the abdication of the individual to the advantage of the community, it is legitimate and has the right to exist (Renan, What is a Nation?). " It is not possible for a man to belong to two such groups of men and still maintain the conditionally of their joint sacrifice.
