outbreak of rev

• In the Old Regime of France, the monarch could not impose taxes at will but had to call a meeting of the Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes
• The Estates General was a political body representing the three estates: the first estate (clergy), the second estate (nobility), and the third estate (commoners)
• Louis XVI called an assembly of the Estates General on 5 May 1789 to pass proposals for new taxes
• The first and second estates each sent 300 representatives, while the third estate, represented by more prosperous and educated members, had 600 representatives who had to stand at the back
• Peasants, artisans, and women were denied entry to the assembly, but their grievances and demands were listed in 40,000 letters brought by the representatives
• Members of the third estate demanded that voting in the Estates General be conducted by the assembly as a whole, with each member having one vote, leading to the formation of the National Assembly
• The National Assembly, led by Mirabeau and Abbé Sieyès, declared themselves in the hall of an indoor tennis court in Versailles on 20 June 1789
• The National Assembly drafted a constitution for France that limited the powers of the monarch and abolished the feudal system of obligations and taxes
• The Constitution of 1791 established a constitutional monarchy in France, with powers separated and assigned to different institutions: the legislature, executive, and judiciary
• The Constitution granted rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, and equality before the law as 'natural and inalienable' rights
• Only men above 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage were considered active citizens with the right to vote
• The remaining men and all women were classified as passive citizens in the new political system
• To qualify as an elector and member of the Assembly, a man had to belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers
• The state was responsible for protecting each citizen's natural rights as declared in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen