Franch Revolution

French Revolution 1

Historical Significance

1. The Tennis Court Oath

The Tennis Court Oath was a main event during the French Revolution. The Oath was a pledge signed by 576 members out of 577 of France's Third Estate and a few members of the First Estate during a meeting of the Estates-General of 20 June 1789 in a tennis court near the Palace of Versailles. They would not disband until they had drafted a constitution. As of 17 June 1789 this group began to call themselves the National Assembly.

2. Olympe de Gouges

In 1791 published The Rights of Women. Following the official Declaration in each of its seventeen articles, she applied them to women explicitly in each case, and she asserted also, in addition, the right of women to divorce under certain conditions, to the control of property in marriage, and for equal access with man to higher education and to civilian careers and public employment.

3. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is one of the fundamental documents of the French Revolution, defining a set of individual rights and collective rights of all of the estates as one. Influenced by the doctrine of natural rights, these rights are universal: they are supposed to be valid in all times and places, pertaining to human nature itself

4. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy

The new program for Clergy was mapped in 1790 during French Revolution. This document coordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government.

5. The Third Estate

In France three estates take place the first estate was the clergy, the second estate the nobility and the third estate other people. The Third Estate included everyone else – from the wealthiest business and professional classes to the poorest peasantry and city workers.

Short Answer

1. What feudal rights did French nobles still hold over their peasants in the late 18 century?

The relations between nobles and peasants were very difficult. The peasant owed no labor to the lord –except a few token services in some cases. The peasant worked for themselves, either on their own land or on rented land; or they worked as sharecroppers; or hired themselves out to the lord or to another peasant.

The noble owner of a manor enjoyed “hunting rights”, or the privilege of keeping game preserves, and of hunting on his own and the peasants’