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National Constituent Assembly
The National Constituent Assembly was France's first constituent assembly. The Assembly took countless measures that profoundly changed the political and social situation of the country. Among them, the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, the suppression of feudalism, the appropriation of Church property and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and the drafting of the French Constitution of 1791. -
Formal opening of the Estates General (May 5th 1789)
The formal opening of the Estates General was due to a general assembly convened by the king to seek a solution to the country's current financial crisis. The assembly included representatives of the three estates of French society: the clergy, the nobility and the common people. The Estates General of 1789 were held at Versailles, on the outskirts of Paris. It was attended by 1139 deputies, among them the American Gouverneur Morris, who recorded all his observations in a diary. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath was a key moment that triggered the French Revolution, because it represented the power of the people. On June 20, finding themselves locked in their usual meeting room at Versailles and thinking that the king was forcing them to dissolve, they moved to a nearby tennis court. There, the men of the National Assembly vowed not to stop meeting until a constitution had been established. The tennis court symbolized revolution, democracy and defiance. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Bastille, a fortress and political prison, had become the preferred destination of aristocratic prisoners, since it was possible to obtain privileges that made the torment of imprisonment more bearable. The citizens of Paris attacked this fortress, a symbol of royal oppression. The attack on the prison represented the liberation of the people and the beginning of the struggle against the regime. This event is celebrated every year as France's National Day, known as Bastille Day. -
The August Decrees
The August Decrees were a set of 19 articles passed by the National Constituent Assembly during the French Revolution, which abolished feudalism in France and ended the tax exemption privileges of the upper classes. This decision took place in the context of the Great Fear, a rural peasant revolt fueled by rumors of a “famine plot” by aristocrats to starve or burn the population. The famous opening sentence of the August Decrees is: “The National Assembly completely destroys the feudal regime”.