University Studies 



Vol. XV JULY-OCTOBER 1915 Nos. 3-4 



I.— THE COUNTER REVOLUTION OF JUNE-JULY, 



1789: ROLE OF THE ASSEMBLY FROM JUNE 



30 TO JULY II 



BY ETHEL LEE HOWIE 

 I 



The coup d'etat of July, 1789, was the natural outcome of the 

 failure of the royal session of June 23. The program laid before 

 the estates on that day was to be executed, peaceably, if possible, 

 forcibly, if need be. There is nothing to indicate that Louis 

 XVI had changed his mind and had decided on a more reac- 

 tionary policy. 



The struggle between the third estate and the privileged orders 

 turned on the two questions of the form of the assembly and the 

 manner of voting. The single assembly and the vote by head 

 were supported by the commons as the sole means of establishing 

 political equality and destroying the privileges of the upper 

 orders : they were opposed by the clergy and the nobility who 

 realized that a single chamber and majority rule would place them 

 at the mercy of the commons. 



The question of vote by head was never openly discussed in 

 the assembly; the struggle centered on the problem of verifica- 

 tion of credentials. Should the credentials be verified by each 

 order separately or by the three orders sitting in a single as- 

 sembly? If the third estate succeeded in obtaining verification 

 in common, they hoped that a permanent union could be secured. 

 Determined to gain their point, the commons summoned the 

 two upper orders to roll call on June 10, and when, on June 12, 



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