From Estates-General to NationalAssembly

By meeting as a separate assembly, the ThirdEstate claimed the right to have their votes count as muchas those of the clergy and nobles.

Reading Connection Have you heard about a riot andthought about what made people take to the streets? Read tolearn why Parisian workers rioted in the summer of 1789.

In the Estates-General, the First and SecondEstates each had about 300 representatives. TheThird Estate had almost 600 representatives, many ofthem lawyers from French towns and cities. To solvethe financial crisis, most of the Third Estate wantedto set up a constitutional government that wouldmake the clergy and nobility pay taxes.

The meeting of the Estates-General opened atVersailles on May 5, 1789. From the start, there werearguments about voting. Traditionally, each estatehad one vote. That meant that the First and SecondEstates could outvote the Third Estate two to one.

The Third Estate demanded that instead eachdeputy have one vote. With the help of a few noblesand clerics, that would give the Third Estate a majority.The king, however, stated that he favored the currentsystem.

Les Halles, the market area of Paris, is pictured with theGrand Chatelet in the background. Would this markethave been quieter or busier twenty years beforethe revolution? Why?

History

The Third Estate reacted quickly. On June 17, 1789,it boldly declared that it was the National Assemblyand would draft a constitution. Three days later, onJune 20, its deputies arrived at their meeting place,only to find the doors had been locked. They thenmoved to a nearby indoor tennis court and sworethat they would continue meeting until they had anew constitution. The oath they swore is known asthe Tennis Court Oath.

Louis XVI prepared to use force against the ThirdEstate. The actions of Parisians, however, saved thesituation. On July 14, Parisian workers stormed theBastille (ba•STEEL), an armory and prison in Paris,and dismantled it, brick by brick. Paris was aban-doned to the rebels.

Louis XVI was soon informed that he could nolonger trust royal troops to shoot at the mob. Theking’s authority had collapsed in Paris. Meanwhile,all over France, there were revolts in the towns andthe countryside. Popular hatred of the entire land-holding system, with its fees and obligations, hadfinally spilled over into action.

In the countryside, peasant rebellions became partof the vast panic known as the Great Fear. The peas-ants feared that the work of the National Assemblywould be stopped by foreign armies. Rumors spreadfrom village to village that foreign troops were on theway to put down the revolution. The peasantsreacted by breaking into the great houses of the lordsto destroy the records of their obligations.

Examining Why did the Third Estatebelieve voting in the Estates-General was unfair?

Reading Check

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History through Art

The Tennis Court Oath by Jacques-LouisDavid Members of the National Assembly sworethat they would produce a French constitution.What caused members to fear that the NationalAssembly would be dissolved by force?

The Destruction of the Old Regime

The National Assembly affirmed the “rights ofman” and set up a limited monarchy in the Constitution of 1791.

Reading Connection Remember how the English kingreacted to the American Declaration of Independence. Read tosee how Louis XVI reacted to the Declaration of the Rights ofMan and the Citizen.

The National Assembly reacted to news of peasantrebellions and rumors of a possible foreign invasion.On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly decided toabolish all legal privileges of the nobles and clergy.

Declaration of the Rights of Man On August 26,the National Assembly adopted the Declaration of theRights of Man and the Citizen. Inspired by the Eng-lish Bill of Rights of 1689 and by the American Decla-ration of Independence and Constitution, this charterof basic liberties began with a ringing affirmation of“the natural and imprescriptible rights of man” to “lib-erty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.”

The declaration proclaimed that all men were freeand equal before the law, that appointment to public

office should be based on talent, and that no groupshould be exempt from taxation. All citizens had theright to make laws. Freedom of speech and the presswere affirmed.

The declaration raised an important issue. Shouldits ideal of equal rights include women? Manydeputies insisted that it did, provided that, as oneman said, “women do not hope to exercise politicalrights and functions.”

One woman writer, Olympe de Gouges, refusedto accept this exclusion of women from politicalrights. Echoing the words of the official declaration,she wrote a Declaration of the Rights of Woman andthe Female Citizen.

“Believing that ignorance, omission, or scorn forthe rights of woman are the only causes of publicmisfortunes and of the corruption of governments,the women have resolved to set forth in a solemndeclaration the natural, inalienable, and sacred rightsof woman in order that this declaration, constantlyexposed before all the members of the society, willceaselessly remind them of their rights and duties.”

The National Assembly ignored her completely. ;(See page 773 to read an excerpt from de Gouge’s Declara-tion of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen inthe Primary Sources Library.)

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Area of peasant revolt (early 1789)Main currents of the Great Fear (summer 1789)

Parisian women march on Versailles.

Louis XVI is arrested at Varennes.

Louis XVI remained at Versailles during the great panicthat swept through France in the summer of 1789. OnOctober 5, 1789, thousands of women marched to Versailles and persuaded Louis to return to Paris with hisfamily. Louis later tried to escape from France in 1791 butwas captured at Varennes and returned to Paris. Whathappened to the royal family after their capture?

History

The King Concedes In the meantime, Louis XVIhad remained at Versailles. Used to the absolutistsystem, he stubbornly refused to accept the NationalAssembly’s decrees. On October 5, however, thou-sands of Parisian women—described by an eyewit-ness as “detachments of women coming up fromevery direction, armed with broomsticks, lances,pitchforks, swords, pistols and muskets”—marchedto Versailles. Some of the women then met with theking. They told him that their children were starvingbecause there was no bread. These hostile womenforced Louis to accept the new decrees.

Now the crowd insisted that the king and his fam-ily return to Paris to show support for the National

Assembly. If the king was not under their closewatch, they feared he would rouse the kings andprinces from other countries to oppose reform.

On October 6, the king and his family did return toParis. As a goodwill gesture, they brought wag-onloads of flour from the palace stores. Along theirroute, they were escorted by women armed withlong, sharp pikes who chanted: “We are bringingback the baker and the baker’s wife.” The king andhis family became virtual prisoners in Paris.

Church Reforms Under the old regime, theCatholic Church had been an important pillar of thesocial and political system. The revolutionaries felt

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A National HolidayThe French Revolution gave rise to the concept of the

modern nation-state. With the development of themodern state came the celebration of one day a year asa national holiday—usually called Independence Day.The national holiday is a day that has special signifi-cance in the history of the nation-state.

In France, the fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, hasbeen celebrated ever since as the beginning of theFrench nation-state. Independence Day in the UnitedStates is celebrated on July 4. On July 4, 1776, the Sec-ond Continental Congress approved the Declaration ofIndependence.

In Norway, people celebrate Constitution Day as anational holiday on May 17. On that day in 1814, Nor-way received a constitution, although it did not gain itsindependence from Sweden until 1905.

Most Latin American countries became independentof Spain or Portugal in the early nineteenth century.Mexico, for example, celebrates its Independence Dayon September 16 with a colorful festival. On September16, 1810, a crowd of local people attacked Spanishauthorities in a small village near Mexico City. They

were crushed, but their actioneventually led to Mexico’s inde-pendence from Spanish controlin 1821.

Most nations in Africa andAsia gained their independencefrom Western colonial powersafter World War II. India cele-brates Independence Day onAugust 15. On that day in 1947,India won its independencefrom the British Empire.

Bastille Day parade !

Every nation celebrates its Independence Day withdifferent kinds of festivities. For example, in theUnited States, many people have barbecues andwatch fireworks displays. Choose two othernations and research how each nation and itspeople celebrate their Independence Day. Createan illustrated poster or chart showing your results.

they had to reform it too. The new revolutionary gov-ernment was also motivated by the need for money.By seizing and selling off Church lands, the NationalAssembly was able to increase the state’s revenues.

Finally, the Church was brought under the controlof the state formally. A law was passed called theCivil Constitution of the Clergy. It said that bishopsand priests were to be elected by the people, notappointed by the pope and the church hierarchy. Thestate would also pay the salaries of the bishops andpriests.

This legislation affecting the Church upset manyCatholics in France. They felt that state control waswrong. Many of them became permanent enemies ofthe revolution, and of all radical ideas in politics.

A New Constitution and New Fears The newConstitution of 1791 set up a limited monarchy. Therewas still a king, but the Legislative Assembly wouldmake the laws. The new body was designed to beconservative. First, only men over 25 who paid a cer-tain amount of taxes could vote. Second, the method

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of choosing its 745 representatives meant that onlyrelatively wealthy people would serve.

By 1791, the old order had been destroyed, but thenew government did not have enough support. Onone hand were political radicals and economicallydisadvantaged people who wanted greater reform.On the other hand were the king and his court whoresisted the new government. In June 1791, the kingattempted to flee France. He almost succeeded butwas captured and brought back to Paris. In this unset-tled situation, the new Legislative Assembly met forthe first time in October 1791. Soon, France’s rockyrelations with the rest of Europe led to the downfallof the king.

War with Austria A number of European leadersworried that revolution would spread to their lands.Austria and Prussia even threatened to use force torestore Louis XVI to full power. The LegislativeAssembly decided it would act first and declared waron Austria in early 1792.

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