Bastille Day had often held people jailed on the basis of "lettres de cachet" (literally "signet letters"), arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed and did not indicate the reason for the imprisonment. The Bastille held a large cache of ammunition and gunpowder, and was also known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy. As it happened, at the time of the attack in July 1789 there were only seven inmates, none of great political significance. The crowd was eventually reinforced by mutinous "Gardes Françaises" ("French
Locked in the Poorhouse Locked in the Poorhouse Locked in the Poorhouse is a 30-year update of the final report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission), co-authored by former Kerner Commissioner, Senator and Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation Chairman Fred R. Harris and Eisenhower Foundation President Alan Curtis. The book was released in 1998 with a companion volume, The Millennium Breach. The Kerner Commission The Kerner Commission was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967 after the 1960s protests in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Newark and many other cities. The Kerner Commission’s final report was released on February 29,