<aside> 👉🏿 In French society, there were three estates that people belonged to. The first estate was made up of clergymen, the second estate was made up of nobles, and the third estate was made up of workers. However, the first two estates enjoyed many privileges, while the third estate had to pay all sorts of taxes.
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The anger and frustration of the third estate boiled over in 1789. This was because France had experienced many natural disasters in the last ten years, including famines that caused severe food shortages. The land stopped producing food, and starvation became a growing problem in society. The third estate, which made up 99% of the population, could no longer tolerate this situation and decided to take matters into their own hands.
<aside> 👉🏿 The Estates General was a country-wide meeting that only the King of France had the power to call. It had not been called for about 175 years since 1614.
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In 1789, the French treasury was empty due to the King's excessive spending, the unequal social systems, and King Louis's financial and military support lent to the Americans, who were fighting for their independence from the British. The king wanted the nobles to share the financial burden by paying taxes.
However, the nobles disagreed and told Louis to bring up the matter at the Estates General. The calling of the Estates General released many unrealized and suppressed complaints of the third estate and the 'volcano' of injustice and frustration was about to erupt. The impact of this unexpected summon of the national forum was too much to bear on the king.
<aside> 👉🏿 The three estates gathered to discuss matters, but the voting was unfair because each estate had one vote, regardless of its size. This meant that the first and second estates could join hands to defeat the third estate.
After negotiations, the three estates agreed to vote by head instead of by estate, but with the condition that the 3rd estate could not have more voters than the other two combined, the first and second estates could still gain the upper hand, who had the one vote from King Louis, because he needs their help.
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During the vote on whether everyone in society should share the burden of taxes, the 3rd estate won with support from some unwealthy members of the other two estates, who did not like the feudal system.
However, the angry and ambitious third estate members were not satisfied of arguing for nothing but just a win and decided to gather on the Tennis Court Oath to discuss what to do next. They declared not to disband until France had a written constitution that would limit the king's power and transfer it to the people. This would allow the people to enjoy different rights and freedoms, such as freedom of speech, religion, and assembly.
<aside> 👉🏿 Bastille was an infamous prison where political prisoners, particularly those who criticized King Louis, were held. Fell on July 14, 1789, when the revolutionary crowds set all the prisoners free, symbolically 'falling' the prison.
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The success of the third estate caused excitement throughout the country. The events unfolded rapidly and dramatically, causing Parisians to become mobs or revolutionaries. They gathered around Bastille, which represented French absolutism, and where the king locked up political prisoners. The mobs stormed the prison and freed the prisoners.
The Fall of Bastille symbolized the collapse of King Louis, the remaining feudal, inequalities, and the satisfaction of French society and politics.
<aside> 👉🏿 In 1971, The National Constituent Assembly was established, which served as the parliament during the first phase of the French Revolution. It created a constitutional monarchy, and responsible for establishing free and equal rights for press, expressions, assembly, religion, speech, and government by the people.
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The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens was the most significant achievement of French Revolution, considered as a representation of the human race. Absolute rulers at the time could not continue their absolutism without fear.
Further prominence was given in the National Constituent Assembly. Under the new parliament, King Louis XVI's power was no longer absolute, he had to share power with those who guaranteed for their rights and freedoms through the National Constituent Assembly, which passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man into law. Louis XVI is upset and felt sorry to God because he failed to uphold the divine right to rule France for God.