Tennis Court Oath

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/tennis-court-oath

1. What is the event?
2. What is the date?
3. What was the Tennis Court Oath and why was it important?
4. Why did the deputies meet in a tennis court instead of their usual meeting room?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the event?The Tennis Court Oath (Serment du Jeu de Paume)
2. What is the date?June 20, 1789
3. What was the Tennis Court Oath and why was it important?It was a promise made by almost all deputies to stay together until a new constitution was written. This showed they wanted a fair government instead of a king who made all the rules.
4. Why did the deputies meet in a tennis court instead of their usual meeting room?The king locked their normal room and put soldiers there, so the deputies had to find another place to talk and decide what to do.

Ancien Régime: The political and social system in France before the Revolution of 1789.
Popular Sovereignty: The principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people.
Fiscal Crisis: A severe problem related to a government's income and spending.
Enlightenment Ideals: Philosophical ideas emphasizing reason, individualism, and human rights that influenced the Revolution.