Enlightenment and French Revolution

  • May 5, 1789 meeting with Estates General

    where: in Versailles/Who:The clergy, Nobility, and Commoners/Why:The political and Financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General/What: Marked the start of the French Revolution.
  • Tennis Court Oath

    Who: Third Estate Deputies to the Estates General/ What: An Oath never to stop meeting until a constitution had been established/ Where: Indoor Tennis court(salle du jeu de paume)/ Why: The National Assembly swore not to stop meeting until France had a constitution.
  • Storm of the Bastille

    Who: Iconic conflict of the French Revolution/What: A pivotal moment in the French Revolution/ Where: Bastille, Paris/ Why: Fears that KIng Louis XVI was about to arrest France's newly constituted National Assembly.
  • Declaration of the Rights of Man

    Who: France's National Constituent Assembly/ What: All "men are born and remain free and equal in rights"/ Where: France's National Assembly/ Why: Defined a single set of individual and collective right for all men