Tennis court oath On June 20th, 1789, an estates-general meeting was being held in the city of Versailles, France.

The third estates officials and representatives had arrived at the meeting hall with hopes of improving the lives of the people that belonged to the third estate. What they didnt expect to find was locked doors. In the previous meetings there had been discussion about reforms and once King Louis the sixteenth realized that these reforms would forever change Frances government system, he refused to acknowledge their demands. So, the 577 members of the third estate who had showed up to the meeting decided to move to a nearby indoor tennis court instead. This was the first formal opposition to Louis the sixteenth in the French revolution. There, the members took a solemn oath to stay together and unite as one until the constitution of the kingdom was created. All the members but one who were locked out of the meeting that day signed a pledge titled the tennis court oath.