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The Meeting of the Estates-General opened at Versallies
It was troubled from the start with a problem about voting. Traditionally, each estate had one vote. That meant that the First and Second Estates together could outvote the Third Estate two to one. The Third Estate demanded that each deputy have one vote. With help of a few nobles and clerics, that would give the Third Estate a majority. The king, however, declared he was in favor of the current system, in which each estate had one vote. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Third Estate called itself a National Assembly and decided to draft a constitution. The deputies of the Third Estate arrived at their meeting place, only to find the doors locked. The deputies then moved to a nearby indoor tennis court. They swore that they would continue to meet until they had produced a French constitution.The oath they swore is known as the Tennis Court Oath -
The Fall of the Bastille
Louis XVI prepared to use force against the Third Estate. The common people, however, saved the Third Estate from the king's forces. A mob of Parisians stormed Bastille, an armory and prison in Paris, and dismantled it, brick by brick. Paris was abandoned to the rebels. The fall of the Bastille had saved the National Assembly. -
The Destruction of the Old Regime
Citizens, fearing invasion by foreign troops that would support the French monarchy, formed militias. The peasant revolts and fear of foreign troops had a strong effect on the National Assembly, which was meeting in Versailles. One of the assembly's first acts was to destroy the relics of feudalism, or aristocratic privileges. That night, the National Assembly voted to abolish the rights of landlords. As well as the financial privileges of nobles and clergy. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
The National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. It was inspired by the American Declaration of Independence and Constitution and the English Bill of Rights. It began with "the natural and imprescriptible rights of man" to " liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." It also reflected Enlightenment thought. The declaration went on to proclaim freedom and equal rights for all men, access to public office based on talent.
