<P> On July 22, 1789 the populace lynched Joseph Foullon de Doué and his son - in - law Louis Bénigne François Bertier de Sauvigny . Both held official positions under the monarchy . </P> <P> Although there were arguments that the Bastille should be preserved as a monument to liberation or as a depot for the new National Guard, the Permanent Committee of Municipal Electors at the Paris Town Hall gave the construction entrepreneur Pierre - François Palloy the commission of disassembling the building . Palloy commenced work immediately . The demolition of the fortress itself, the melting down of its clock portraying chained prisoners, and the breaking up of four statues were all carried out within five months . </P> <P> On July 16, 1789, two days after the Storming of the Bastille, John Frederick Sackville, serving as ambassador to France, reported to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds, "Thus, my Lord, the greatest revolution that we know anything of has been effected with, comparatively speaking--if the magnitude of the event is considered--the loss of very few lives . From this moment we may consider France as a free country, the King a very limited monarch, and the nobility as reduced to a level with the rest of the nation ." </P> <P> In 1790, Lafayette gave the cast - iron, one - pound and three - ounce key to the Bastille to American President George Washington . Washington displayed it prominently at government facilities and events in New York and in Philadelphia until shortly before his retirement in 1797 . The key remains on display at Washington's residence of Mount Vernon . </P>

Why did the french stormed the bastille prison