Final answer:
On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly took action to abolish feudal privileges, ending the rights and privileges of the nobility and clergy and advancing the principles of equality and the rights of citizens that would be enshrined in the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Step-by-step explanation:
On the night of August 4, 1789, a significant legislative action took place when members of the French National Assembly, driven by the revolutionary spirit that was sweeping across France, undertook a radical step to dismantle the feudal system that had long structured French society. In a series of breathtaking decrees, the Assembly abolished the feudal privileges of the nobility and clergy, effectively ending the feudal rights that these estates had over the peasantry.
These privileges included personal serfdom, exclusive hunting rights, special legal jurisdictions, and the right to collect certain taxes. This marked a turning point in the French Revolution, as it eradicated the legal basis for inequality amongst the estates and signified the Assembly's commitment to creating a new social order based on equality and the rights of citizens.
The action also included the surrender of rights by nobles and other measures that helped pave the way for the later adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which codified these new principles of liberty.