 Beginning in 1839, the Ottoman government implemented the Tanzimat reforms to improve the situation of minorities, although these would prove largely ineffective.In 1856, the "Hatt-ı Hümayun" promised equality for all Ottoman citizens irrespective of their ethnicity and confession, widening the scope of the 1839 "Hatt-ı Şerif" of Gülhane.The reformist period peaked with the Constitution, called the "Kanûn-ı Esâsî" (meaning "Basic Law" in Ottoman Turkish), written by members of the Young Ottomans, which was promulgated on 23 November 1876.