The Tennis Court Oath

A detailed Summary of The Tennis Court Oath


The Tennis Court Oath was the event in which the underprivileged class of France finally decided to stand up for their rights. There were many events leading up to the oath which certainly restricted the Third Estate. The Third Estate had been abused so much that they wanted to take action. They wanted their own constitution that would secure their rights and privileges. It was this oath combined with a few other events such as the Storming on the Bastille that started the French Revolution.

The turmoil was started when King Louis XVI had run the government nearly bankrupt. The harvest of 1788 was the worst in 90 years and the price of bread on the streets of Paris exploded upward. Finally, the banks began to refuse new loans for him. At this point Louis was in deep trouble. He had to find a new way to make money or France would be economically destroyed. Since the First and Second Estates did not pay taxes, Louis devised a plan to call the Estates General, which had not met in 175


The Tennis Court Oath said that the power would lie in the people and their representatives. It would no longer exist in the monarchy. A man by the name of Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes voted to call itself the National Assembly. This National Assembly would go on to create a document named the Declaration of the Rights of Man on August 4, 1789. It stated that all people were equal before the law. It also gave freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the right to a fair trial. Some more major outcomes included the abolishment of feudal dues, the retraction of the church tithe, and the privilege for the Third Estate to hold major military or clergy positions.

years, to order. The King also said that he would let each member vote instead of one vote as a whole in response to the Third Estate's wishes. This would have given the Third Estate a much higher voice in the government. Secretly, Louis was just bluffing, and when the members of the Third Estate arrived at t

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 672
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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