1789

1789 was a pivotal year in world history, marked by revolutionary political changes in France and the consolidation of the United States under a new constitutional framework. In France, the Estates-General convened at Versailles on May 5 for the first time since 1614, and on June 17 the Third Estate proclaimed itself the National Assembly. The Tennis Court Oath of June 20 signaled a shift toward constitutional government, and the storming of the Bastille on July 14 became a powerful symbol of popular uprising. By August, feudal privileges were abolished and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was proclaimed, outlining universal rights. The political upheaval culminated in the October 5–6 Women’s March on Versailles, which contributed to the royal family’s relocation to Paris. Later in the year, the government began issuing assignats to address financial crises.

In the United States, 1789 saw the practical establishment of the new constitutional order. George Washington was inaugurated as the first president on April 30 in New York City, and the new government under the U.S. Constitution began functioning. Congress established the executive and judicial branches and passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, creating a federal court system and laying the groundwork for the nation’s legal framework. The year also reflected the broader Atlantic world’s engagement with Enlightenment ideas about rights, sovereignty, and constitutional government.

Other global developments in 1789 were more varied and less central to a single narrative, but the year is widely remembered for the French Revolution’s early milestones and the birth of an organized federal republic in the United States. The events of 1789 continued to shape political thought and institutions in the ensuing decades.