The Bastille

On July 14, 1789 the people banned together and stormed the Bastille prison. To the people of Paris, the Bastille was a symbol of brutality and dictatorial power. It was hated because of the many stories that had emerged from its walls of horrible torture and cruelty. To the people of Paris who stormed the Bastille, the prison which was the symbol of the monarchy which France had been suffering under for so long. They were tired …

…on him by his defenders changed his mind. Before the cannon could be fired, Governor de Launay surrendered. This did not, however, spare his life. Before long his severed head was paraded by the mob. Two days after the storming of the Bastille, the National Assembly ordered that this symbol of despotic power be burned to the ground. The crowds cheered as the prison walls crumbled and finally grass grew where the Bastille once stood.