Why Did The Tennis Court Oath Happen?

The Tennis Court Oath was a key moment in the early days of the French Revolution. On June 20, 1789, a group of French politicians gathered at a tennis court in Paris to take an oath pledging their support for a new constitution. The Tennis Court Oath was a key moment in the early days of the French Revolution.

The Tennis Court Oath was a turning point during the French Revolution.

The Tennis Court Oath (Serment du Jeu de paume) was a turning point during the French Revolution. It was a pledge signed by 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate who were locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General on 20 June 1789. The only person who did not sign was Joseph Martin-Dauch, a deputy from Ariège. pledging their lives and fortunes to the nation. They bound themselves as “a bodyguard to Louis XVI, king of the French”, vowing never to disband until a written constitution had been established for France.

The Oath signalled the end of the French monarchy’s absolute power and foreshadowed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which was made shortly afterwards. It also inspired a number of similar oaths throughout France in solidarity with the Parisian revolt.

It happened because the Third Estate was fed up with the way they were being treated.

The Tennis Court Oath (Serment du Jeu de Paume) was a pledge signed by 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate who met at the Jeu de Paume in Versailles, France on 20 June 1789. The only person who did not sign was Joseph Martin-Dauch, a representative of the clergy who had gone to retrieve his copy of the cahiers de doléances.

The Tennis Court Oath was precipitated by the failure of King Louis XVI to convene the Estates-General, an action he had promised during negotiations with the Third Estate in 1788–1789 to resolve the financial crisis in France. The Estates-General had last been convened in 1614 and its deputies represented three groups:
the clergy (First Estate),
the nobility (Second Estate),
and commoners (Third Estate).

As part of the negotiations leading up to the Estates-General, Louis had agreed that each group would be given double representation and that voting would be by order, meaning that each group would vote as one block and reach a decision only if all three orders were in agreement. However, when it became clear that this arrangement favored the aristocracy and clergy—which together composed less than 10% of the population yet held nearly 60% of seats in the Estates-General—commoners from the Third Estate began to call for equal representation.

The Tennis Court Oath was one of several protests by members of the Third Estate against the autocratic power of Louis XVI. It signaled their determination to preserve their rights and culminated in their storming of The Bastille on 14 July 1789, an event which is now considered as one mark of The French Revolution.

The Third Estate wanted to have a say in how the country was run.

The Third Estate wanted to have a say in how the country was run. The First and Second Estates (the clergy and the nobility) had a lot of power and the Third Estate felt that they should have more power too.

On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate met at a tennis court in Versailles and swore an oath not to leave until they had drawn up a new constitution for France. This became known as the Tennis Court Oath.

They wanted to be able to have a voice in the government.

The Tennis Court Oath (Serment du jeu de paume) was a pivotal event during the first days of the French Revolution. The Oath was a pledge signed by 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate who were locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General on 20 June 1789. The deputies from the Third Estate had been transformed into the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) two days earlier, an act which formalised their status as representatives of the people rather than simply deputies of the Estates-General.

Jean Sylvain Bailly, the mayor of Paris at the time, had invited famous revolutionary Camille Desmoulins to speak to the crowd which had gathered outside his salon on 18th July. Desmoulins famously called for deposing King Louis XVI and proclaimed ‘the king is nothing but a wretch like us’. These words kindled fears among many deputies that they would be held liable for any acts taken in defiance of royally decreed law.

In response to these fears, Royalists in Paris –specifically Lafayette– urged the deputies in Versailles to take an oath not to disperse until they had drafted a constitution. This{ text was added later}

The Tennis Court Oath was a way for the Third Estate to show that they were serious about getting what they wanted.

When the Third Estate convened at the Jeu de Paume on June 20, 1789, they were eager to start working on a new constitution for France. However, King Louis XVI had other plans and had the Estates-General dissolved. The Third Estate refused to leave and instead, gathered at a nearby tennis court. Here, they took an oath not to leave until they had drawn up a new constitution. The Tennis Court Oath was a way for the Third Estate to show that they were serious about getting what they wanted.