Before I explain l why the National Assembly was formed, I think we should review the context in which the National Assembly was created. Remember, we’re dealing with the French Revolution. Part of what led to the French Revolution was France’s financial disarray. The French overspent on the Seven Years War and on the American Revolution. To make matters worse, the French nobility and the French clergy dodged taxes. Most taxes came from the least wealthy; they came from the commoners or the members of the Third Estate.

To try and alleviate the monetary distress, King Louis XVI called together the Estates General. The Estates General consisted of three groups. The First Estate was made up of clergy and church officials. The Second Estate comprised noble people. The Third Estate consisted of commoners or, more or less, everyday people.

The Third Estate represented around ninety-eight percent of the French population. However, in the Estates General, they could still be outvoted by the clergy and the nobles. The Third Estate didn’t think this was fair, so they requested more power. When King Louis XVI denied their demand, the Third Estate formed their own government. That government was called the National Assembly.

The size of the National Assembly all but forced King Louis XVI to heed the new political body. The National Assembly passed decrees to try and help peasants deal with their landlords and a painful food crisis. They also expropriated church lands to try and tackle the ongoing financial predicament.