Works in Bayonne for his Uncle Monclar and assists his grandfather in running a farm at Souprosse in the Landes (estate called “Sengresse”).
Joins a Masonic lodge, La Zélée. Becomes a garde des sceaux in 1822 and an orateur in 1823.
Participates in a demonstration of young liberals in support of Jacques Laffite, September 1824.
Gives lectures on literary, religious, philosophical, and economic topics.
1825–30
Death of grandfather, 13 August. Inherits part of his estate.
Attempts unsuccessfully to modernize the practices of his tenants on his estate.
Expresses a desire to write on the protectionist system in France.
1830
Participates in protests in Bayonne in favor of the new regime (the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe), 3–5 August.
Visits Bayonne garrison and successfully persuades the officers to support the revolution, 5 August.
[print edition page xliv]
1831
Marries Marie Clotilde Hiart, 7 February. Separates soon after; uses her dowry to expand his estate.
Appointed justice of the peace in the canton of Mugron, 28 May.
Unsuccessfully stands for election to the legislature of the arrondissement of Dax, 6 July.
1832
Unsuccessfully stands for election to the legislature in the arrondissement of Saint-Sever, 11 July.
1833
Elected to the General Council of the Landes, 17 November.
1837
Publishes five articles on a proposed canal next to the Ardour River.
1838
Publishes two articles on the Basque language.
1839
Reelected to the General Council of the Landes, 24 November.
1840
Travels to Spain and Portugal to explore setting up an insurance business.
1841
Has plans to create an “Association for the Defense of Viticultural Interests” and a journal to be called Le Midi (these do not come to fruition).
1842
Unsuccessfully stands for election to the legislature in the arrondissement of Saint-Sever, 9 July.
1843
Writes “Mémoire on the Viticulture Question,” 22 January.
Plans to create a school for sharecroppers.
Publishes three articles on “Free Trade. State of the Question in England” in La Sentinelle des Pyrénées, May / June.
1844
Publishes his first major essay in the JDE: “On the Influence of French and English Tariffs on the Future of the Two Peoples,” October.
Begins corresponding with Richard Cobden, 24 November. Tells him he would like to start his own free-trade association in France.
1845
A dinner held in his honor by the Political Economy Society to welcome him to Paris, May.
Travels to London, where he is met with enthusiasm by members of the Anti–Corn Law League, July.
Publishes his first books: Cobden and the League (July 1845) and Economic Sophisms (First Series), November.
[print edition page xlv]
Supports de Larnac, the center-left candidate to the local legislature, August–September.
Joins the Society for Political Economy and begins attending their monthly meetings when in Paris.
Offered editorship of JDE but turns it down.
1846
Elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, 24 January.
Cofounder of the Free Trade Association in Bordeaux, 23 February.
10 May, National Association for Free Trade is formed in Paris, and Bastiat is made the secretary of the Advisory Board. Other Associations are established in Marseilles, Lyon, and Le Havre.
Dinner in Paris to celebrate political victory of Cobden and the Anti–Corn Law League, 18 August.
Speaks at free-trade meetings in Bordeaux (23 February) and Paris (29 September).
Appearance of first issue of the weekly journal Le Libre-échange, 29 November.
Resigns his position as justice of the peace in Mugron, 30 November.
Debates with Lamartine and the editors of L’Atelier and Le Moniteur industriel.
Publishes many articles on free trade in a number of journals.
1847
Chamber considers bill to liberalize tariffs and sends it to a committee dominated by protectionists, March to July.
Begins lecturing on political economy at the School of Law in Paris, 3 July.
Debates throughout the year with protectionists.
1848
Publication of Economic Sophisms (Second Series), 5 January.
Gives up the editorship of Le Libre-échange for reasons of health, 13 February.
Witnesses rioting in the streets of Paris and the killing of protesters by the army, 23–25 February.
Publication of La République française, 26 February.
Elected deputy in the Constituent Assembly representing the département of the Landes, 23 April. Appointed vice president of the Finance Committee.
[print edition page xlvi]
Nominated to the Chamber’s commission of inquiry into labor, May.
Speech in the Chamber on free trade and against subsidies to the textile industry, 9 June.
