classes of the city would take further advantage of the collapse of the old administrative machine and resort again to direct action, hastily established a provisional local government and organized a people's militia, officially designated the National Guard. A red, white, and blue tricolor was substituted for the white standard of the Bourbons as the national flag. Provisional local governments and militia units were soon established throughout the nation. The National Guard was placed under the command of the marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution. Unable to stem the rising tide of revolt, Louis XVI withdrew his loyal troops. He recalled Necker, and then he formally legalized the measures that had been taken by the provisional authorities.Drafting a Constitution Provincial unrest and disorder, known as the Great Fear, stimulated the National Constituent Assembly to action. During the night session of August 4, 1789, the clergy, nobles, and bourgeoisie renounced their privileges; a few days later the assembly passed a law abolishing feudal and manorial prerogatives, but guaranteeing compensation in certain cases. Parallel legislation included prohibition of the sale of public offices, of exemption from taxation, and of the right of the Roman Catholic church to levy tithes.The assembly then proceeded to grapple with its primary task, the drafting of a constitution. In the constitutional preamble, known in history as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the delegates formulated the revolutionary ideals later summarized as Libert, galit, Fraternit (“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”). While the Constituent Assembly deliberated, the hungry population of Paris, a hotbed of discontent and of rumors of Royalist conspiracy, clamored for food and agitated for action. Reports of a gala banquet at Versailles stirred the political ferment in Paris to the boiling point. On October 5-6 a large body of ...
