How was national assembly recognized and how did it start exercising its powers?

Answer 1

The National Assembly lasted for only three weeks and was the transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly.

The Estates-General met on May 5, 1789 to deal with France's financial crisis, but its own structure caused it to collapse. Government representation was divided into three "estates." The First Estate was the clergy, the Second Estate was the nobility, and the Third Estate was the commoners, at least in theory. However, in practice, the third estate only represented the interests of the wealthy among the "commoners." The Third Estate had twice as many delegates and was designed to give double representation to the common people. Instead, during the opening session on May 5, 1789, everyone was informed that representation would be by estate rather than by head, thus nullifying any advantage from double representation. The Third Estate refused to proceed under those conditions and met separately.

Diplomatic relations failed between the estates until May 27. On May 28, the Third Estate started meeting on their own. They called themselves the Communes ("Commons"). During June 13 to June 17, they were joined by some of the nobles and most of the clergy, and other people such as the peasants were there as well. On June 17, they became the National Assembly.

The king resisted the National Assembly and tried to restore the three estates back to what they were. The king intended to meed with the assembly, annul its decrees, demand that the orders be separated, and dictate reforms to be put in place by the restored Estates-General. On June 19, the king ordered that the Salle des États be closed to prevent the National Assembly from meeting. On the 20th, the deputies were shocked that they could not get into the chamber and that the building was surrounded by soldiers. So they met in the nearby tennis court which belonged to the king. The deputies all took an oath to never separate, and to meet as often as required, at least until they had a firm constitution. The oath was a revolutionary act and an assertion that power comes from the people, not royalty.

Two days after the Oath, the National Assembly were forbidden to use the tennis court as well. So along with most of the clergy, they met in St. Louis' church. All efforts to try to restore the estates only hastened the events that unfolded. On June 23, the king met with the representatives of the estates and was met with silence. He disbanded the meeting and ordered everyone out. The nobles and clergy obeyed, but the deputies of the commoners remained seated and in silence. Mirabeau finally gave a speech.

The king granted a constitution and asserted the right to have three separate estates and formed three chambers. That failed, and finally the king demanded that the clergy and the nobles to join the National Assembly. After July 9, 1789, they became the National Constituent Assembly. They asked the king to remove his troops and that failed. He proposed to move the National Constituent Assemble between two armies and away from the people. The public became outraged. That caused the Storming of the Bastille, thus sparking the Revolution.

In August of 1789, the National Assembly created and adopted the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen". This guaranteed equal, inalienable rights for all citizens. It protected those rights from future legislation or government actions. Minority groups throughout the empire demanded to be included as French citizens and be protected under the declaration. The Haitians were unsuccessful in petitioning for citizenship, and that played a role in the eventual Haitian Revolution.

Answer 2

Well the first thing you need to understand is that the Assembly was only recognized by King Louis after leaders of the Assembly (Abbe Seiyes and a couple of Clergy members) smeared their own excrement all over the queens face. This was in fact an important turning point in the revolution, as the French people now knew that they could smear excrement over the queens face in order to gain rights. This tactic was used many times throughout the revolution, including the storming of the Bastille.