French Revolution II
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YomoFrench Revolution II
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YomoThe Revolution Begins
Violence and the Rights of Man
Meeting of
the Estates
General
May 4, 1789
Over 1,200 elected deputies met at
Versailles
Third Estate members were angered
Ordered to vote in three separate chambers
(rooms)
Dressed in black cloaks to mark their inferior
status
The National Assembly
First Estate votes to join the National
Assembly
By June 27, Louis orders remaining
delegates to join the National Assembly
However, in early July, he also ordered
20,000 to nearby Paris and fired his only
non-noble advisor Jaques Necker.
The Tennis Court
Oath
May 17
Members of the 3rd Est. refused to meet separately,
and a few members of the other estates joined them.
They took the name National Assembly, claiming they
represented the general will of the nation (France).
May 20th: After being locked out, the members of the
National Assembly moved to a nearby tennis court
and pledged their loyalty to unity, the pursuit of a
constitution, and the true principles of the
monarchy.
Trouble in Paris
Bread prices rose from 8 to 14 sous
(currency) per four-pound loaf
Suspicions and rumors spread that the
noble landowners were trying to starve
the people into submission by withholding
grain.
The common people of Paris began to
raid gunsmiths and other stores for
weapons, but gunpowder was in short
supply.
The Bastille
To obtain gunpowder and more arms
the Parisians attacked the Bastille
a prison fortress that was also a
symbol of royal tyranny.
The governor of the fortress
Marquis de Launay further enraged
the people when he ordered prison
guards to fire on the invaders killing
about one hundred of them and
injuring another seventy.
Launay surrendered when some
soldiers joined with the crowd and
Results of Victory at the
Bastille
Saved the National Assembly
Provided arms and gunpowder to a new
Militia commanded by the French hero of
the American Revolution the Marquis de
Lafayette.
The withdrawal of royal troops from Paris
and the recall of Necker
The invention of the French flag
The beginning of a pattern of violence
Violence at the Bastille
Marquis de Launay and six of his troops
had been killed after losing the fortress.
More Violence
July 22nd
The Royal Governor, Louis
Bertier de Sauvigny, who
allegedly told poor people in
France to eat straw, is
captured trying to escape
Paris.
He and his father-in-law
were both decapitated and
had their mouths stuffed with
straw.
Violence in the Countryside
As in Paris, the countryside was a place
of open rebellion with noble rule being
replaced by popular militias and councils.
The common people refused to pay their
feudal dues to nobles and the church
The National Assembly
Responds
The National Assembly passed
laws (known as August decrees)
abolishing feudal dues taxes
paid to nobles.
On August 27, the National
Assembly also approved the
Declaration of the Rights of Man
and Citizen which guaranteed
rights of free speech,
association, religion and opinion.
The age of feudalism was over.
