The French Revolution

Begins

Calling the Estates-General

•Due to spending, Louis XVI forced to raise taxes on nobles.

•Second Estate was furious; called meeting of Estates-General (a meeting of representatives from all three estates), which met on May 5, 1789 (the first time in 175 years).

Medieval Vote Allocation of the Estates-General

Vote Allocation Suggested by Members of the Third

Estate

Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès

• Clergyman sympathetic to the cause of the Third Estate.

• Suggested that Third Estate rename themselves the National Assembly and begin passing laws and reforms in the name of the French people.

• Delegates of Third Estate vote overwhelmingly in favor of this idea on June 17, 1789.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Emmanuel_Joseph_Siey%C3%A8s_-_crop.jpg

The Tennis Court Oath

• On June 20, 1789, third estate delegates locked out of their meeting room; broke down doors to tennis court.

• Pledged to stay on the tennis court until they drew up a new constitution. Nobles and clergy sympathetic to their cause joined them.

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/the-tennis-court-oath-jacques-louis-david.jpg

The Storming of the Bastille

• According to rumors in Paris, Louis XVI would use military force to dismiss National Assembly. People gathered weapons to defend the city.

• July 14, 1789, mob attacks the Bastille in search of gunpowder and weapons.

• This marks the beginning of the Revolution.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Prise_de_la_Bastille.jpg

The Great Fear

•From July to August of 1789, rumors circulated that nobles were hiring outlaws to terrorize peasants.

•Peasants stormed homes of nobles to destroy documents requiring them to pay feudal dues; sometimes just burned the homes down.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man

•Fundamental document of the French Revolution.

•Key drafts prepared by the Marquis de Lafayette, with input from his friend Thomas Jefferson.

•Embraced ideals of the American Revolution and the Enlightenment.

Womens’ March on Versailles

• In October of 1789, women rioted in Paris over the price of bread.

• Demanded National Assembly do something.

• Stormed Palace of Versailles, killed some guards, and demanded that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette return with them to Paris.