From Estates-General to National Assembly 11-1

Estates-General May 5, 1789--Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates-General at Versailles 1st and 2nd Estate = 300 reps each 3rd Estate = almost 600 reps Wanted a constitutional gov't that would make the clergy and nobility pay taxes, too

Estates-General Voting Traditionally--1 Estate = 1 vote First and Second could out vote Third Third Estate wanted each representative to have a vote This way they could have the majority (with the help of a few nobles and clerics) June 17, 1789--Third Estate declared it was the National Assembly and would draft a new constitution

Locked Out June 20th--Third Estate locked out of Estates- General meeting So, they moved to a local indoor tennis court and swore to continue meeting until they had a new constitution This is called the Tennis Court Oath Louis XVI was prepared to use force against the Third Estate

Storming the Bastille July 14, 1789--900 Parisians gathered in the courtyard of the Bastille (old fortress/prison/armory) to protest the price of bread They heard a rumor that the king's troops were coming The attackers lowered the draw bridge over the moat French guard joined the attack After 4 hrs of fighting the prison warden surrendered The rebels released 7 prisoners and beheaded the prison warden

Storming the Bastille (con't) The rebels were angered by the lack of munitions, and demolished the entire Bastille Paris was abandoned to the rebels King no longer controlled The king was informed that this was not a revolt it was a revolution The king could no longer trust royal troops Revolts broke out all over France

Great Fear Peasant rebellions created a panic known as the Great Fear Many rebels were afraid that the work of the National Assembly would be stopped by foreign troops Peasants broke into houses of lords to destroy records of their obligations