<P> On 20 June 1789, the members of the French Estates - General for the Third Estate, who had begun to call themselves the National Assembly, took the Tennis Court Oath (French: Serment du Jeu de Paume), vowing "not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established". It was a pivotal event in the French Revolution . </P> <P> The Estates - General had been called to address the country's fiscal and agricultural crisis, but immediately after convening in May 1789, they had become bogged down in issues of representation--particularly, whether they would vote by head (which would increase the power of the Third Estate, as they outnumbered the other two estates hugely) or by order . </P>

In 1789 the 1st 2nd and 3rd estates of france met on a tennis court and swore an oath known as the