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 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 their assigned meeting hall, they found it locked against them. This greatly angered the Third Estate.

             They were exhausted from the nonsense which had been going on for hundreds of years. They wanted more rights, fewer taxes, and no more monarchy. The Grande Bourgeoisie wanted their children to be able to hold high positions in the military and army. They also wanted the nobles and clergy to pay taxes. The Petite Bourgeoisie wanted the prices of food to stop inflating and wanted taxes to stop. Finally, the peasants desperately wanted to get rid of the tithe and the massively inflating prices for bread.