The Tennis court oath
On June 20, 1789, the deputies of the third estate arrived at their assigned hall, but were shocked to see that they were locked out of the meeting of the Estates-General. It was widely believed that King Louis XVI ordered their being locked out because he was attempting to disband the third estate’s so called national assembly and he did not want them to reform the government in any way that would diminish his power. Therefore, the bourgeois decided to instead hold a conference inside a tennis court located in Versailles. During the fateful meeting, Jean Joseph Mounier, a French politician, proposed that the third estate adopt an oath of allegiance now commonly known as the Tennis Court Oath. They vowed that they wouldn’t separate until a national constitution was established. This event also marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The creation of this oath was an assertion that political authority was derived from the people and not from the monarch. The commoners became more united as a result, and their solidarity forced King Louis XVI to make the clergy and nobility tale part in the National Assembly. The Tennis Court Oath was a success because at the end of the day, the people were able to gather themselves and assert what they wanted, which was the constitution, and they actually prompted the creation of a constitution and got the monarch to actually submit to their wishes.
Renee Lim #21
Michiko Lokin #22
Renee Lim #21
Michiko Lokin #22