The Three Estates consisted of three social classes, which were the First, Second, and Third Estates. The First Estate was made up of the clergy, the Second Estate was made up of nobles, and the Third Estate was the rest of the population in France.
What were the 3 estates How was each estate different from each other?
The First Estate consisted of members of the Catholic Church (the clergy). The Second Estate consisted of members of the aristocracy (the nobility). The Third Estate comprised all other members of french society (the commoners).
What were the differences between the first second and third estates?
France under the Ancien Régime was divided society into three estates: the First Estate (clergy); the Second Estate (nobility); and the Third Estate (commoners). One critical difference between the estates of the realm was the burden of taxation.
What were the 3 estates What was each?
This assembly was composed of three estates – the clergy, nobility and commoners – who had the power to decide on the levying of new taxes and to undertake reforms in the country. The opening of the Estates General, on 5 May 1789 in Versailles, also marked the start of the French Revolution.
How do the bourgeoisie and Third Estate differ?
Not all members of the Third Estate were impoverished. At the apex of the Third Estate’s social hierarchy was the bourgeoisie or capitalist middle classes. The bourgeoisie were business owners and professionals with enough wealth to live comfortably. As with the peasantry, there was also diversity within their ranks.
What did the 2nd estate do?
The Second Estate represented the nobility, which comprised less than 2 percent of the French population. The Third Estate represented the overwhelming majority of the French population, from the wealthy urban elite to craftsmen and the peasantry.
Why did the 3rd estate not like the 1st or 2nd estate?
The king said that each estate would vote as a body (each estate would get 1 vote). The members of the Third Estate did not like this. It meant that they could always be outvoted by the much smaller First and Second Estates.
Why were the 1st and 2nd estates opposed to change?
The First and Second Estates may be opposed to change because they were wealthy and had to pay little taxes because of the Third Estate. They had privileges including access to high offices. What do the divisions in the Legislative Assembly say about the differences in French society?
What is the 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th estate?
France under the Ancien Régime (before the French Revolution) divided society into three estates: the First Estate (clergy); the Second Estate (nobility); and the Third Estate (commoners). The king was considered part of no estate.
What is the 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th estate of democracy?
The first estate was the clergy, the second estate was the nobility, the third estate was the commoners and bourgeois, and the fourth estate was the press.
What was the Third Estate and what did it do?
The Third Estate was made up of everyone else, from peasant farmers to the bourgeoisie – the wealthy business class. While the Second Estate was only 1% of the total population of France, the Third Estate was 96%, and had none of the rights and priviliges of the other two estates.
Why was the three estates unfair?
The representatives of all three estates were to present their grievances to the king. The representation was not proportional to the population of each estate. The third estate represented over 98 per cent of the population, but the other two estates could outvote them because of the disproportional representation.
What did the Third Estate do?
The Third Estate, which had the most representatives, declared itself the National Assembly and took an oath to force a new constitution on the king.
What did the second estate want?
Whereas the King sought tax reform, the First and Second Estates sought to protect their power and privilege. The Third Estate wanted greater representation and greater political power to address issues of inequality.
Why was the third estate so angry?
King Louis XVI, aware of the injustices of the French tax policy, tried to reform the tax code to make it more fair, but was repeatedly thwarted by the overrepresented nobles and clergy. This angered the Third Estate, which refused to vote in the Estates General, and formed instead the National Assembly.
Why were the peasants in the Third Estate unhappy?
The reason why the Third Estate was so unhappy was because they had 95% of the people which were peasants and they were treated poorly and overlooked by the two other estates. The first example of the popular protest in the French Revolution was when the peasants stormed the Bastille and took it apart.
What did the Third Estate turn into?
It represented the great majority of the people, and its deputies’ transformation of themselves into a National Assembly in June 1789 marked the beginning of the French Revolution.
Who was in the 3rd Estate?
In the pamphlet, Sieyès argues that the third estate – the common people of France – constituted a complete nation within itself and had no need of the “dead weight” of the two other orders, the first and second estates of the clergy and aristocracy.
What did the Third Estate Pay?
Finally, the 3rd Estate comprised the rest of the population. They had very little rights and paid nearly half of their income in taxes. Individuals in the 3rd Estate could be peasants, lawyers, laborers, or land workers who were toiling away on the lands of the Nobles.
Which estate has the most power?
The Nobles in the Second Estate were the richest and most powerful in the kingdom.
Why was the first estate unhappy?
Many who remained in the church believed it was in need of reform and purging of corruption. This rising dissatisfaction was not only confined to laymen. There was also growing unrest among the lower ranks of the clergy.