The Tennis Court Oath was an oath of allegiance by the Third Estate in France to remain bonded together until a constitution has been written. More and more people were joining the Third Estate as they began to seek more power and authority; therefore King Louis XVI decided to lock them out completely to seclude their votes. After the Third Estate found themselves locked out of the usual meeting session, they realized that the king was determined to oppose and eliminate them and thus made the oath of bonding and their rights.
The main grievances of the Third Estate were that they did not have the equal amount of power and authority as the other estates. The Third Estate was mainly made of the citizens besides the clergy and nobles, which were the peasants, and thus had the least control. However, since they made up most of population, they claimed that they must have a larger proportion in control. Although they did have the most people, their votes were outnumbered by those of the First and Second Estate since each estate had only one vote and the other two would usually bond, and so were never heard. Their oath was a movement to show direct declaration against the estates and the king’s concentrated powers. They claimed a want for equality to state what they wished, and also the distribution of rule that they deserved. Another grievance was of the financial, that the First and Second Estate did not pay taxes while the population besides the nobles and clergy had to support the entire nation. The rich who actually had the wealth and resources were able to pay much less taxes than the peasants who struggled to live each day. The Third Estate sought to solve this inequality as well, for the benefit of all.
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