National Assembly 1789 (France)

The National Assembly was a transitional body of French delegates from the Third Estate that convened from June 17 to July 9, 1789, after the Estates General meetings and before the National Constituent Assembly, during the French Revolution. For the Estates General, whose sessions began on May 5, 1789, the Third Estate had been granted double representation, that is, twice as many delegates as each of the other two estates, but at the opening session they were informed that all voting would be "by estates" not "by head", so their double representation was to be meaningless in terms of power. They refused this and proceeded to meet separately. On June 17, this new body declared itself the National Assembly: an assembly not of the Estates but composed of the People. They invited the other orders to join them, making it clear that they intended to conduct the nation’s affairs with or without them.

In order to prevent the National Assembly from convening, Louis XVI had the Salle des Etats (Estates Hall) closed. Nevertheless, the Assembly moved their deliberations to a nearby indoor tennis court, where they proceeded to swear the Tennis Court Oath (June 20 1789), under which they agreed not to separate until they had given France a constitution. A majority of the representatives of the clergy soon joined them, as did 47 members of the nobility. The National Assembly consolidated the public debt and declared all existing taxes to have been illegally imposed, but voted in these same taxes provisionally, only as long as the Assembly continued to sit. This restored the confidence of the capitalists and gave them a strong interest in keeping the Assembly in session. As for the common people, the Assembly established a committee of subsistence to deal with food shortages. At the beginning, the Assembly announced itself to be operating in the interests of King Louis XVI as well as those of the people.