Question

Why did the Third Estate form the National Assembly?

Answer 1

 In 1789, Louis XVI, King of France, called for the constitution of Estates-General. Basically, this was an assembly made out of representatives from each of the three major orders of the French society (the nobles, the clergy, and the rest), formed only in times of crisis.

The representatives of the three orders disagreed on the decision system: nobles and the clergy wanted to vote by order, which would have given them the control of the Estates-General; the Commons, being numerically the largest group, and representing the widest part of the population, wanted votes to be counted on the number of representatives.

Both groups clashed, and finally, the Commons formed their own assembly, which would become the National Assembly. They were joined by progressists from the two remaining orders and, during an historical event known as the Tennis Court Oath, they decided to keep working until they finished writing a Constitution for the country.

Answer 2

The Estates-General had not been assembled since 1614, and its deputies drew up long lists of grievances and called for sweeping political and social reforms. The Third Estate, which had the most representatives, declared itself theNational Assembly and took an oath to force a new constitution on the king.