USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Answer and Explanation: The wealthiest members of the Third Estate were those involved in commerce: merchants, financiers, and industrialists. In many respects, these men lived lifestyles comparable to the nobility.

Detailed explanation-2: -The nobility was the wealthiest of the three social classes. Like the clergy, they amassed wealth through taxation of the lower class. They were landowners, and land renters, collecting rent from their tenants. They also did not have to pay taxes.

Detailed explanation-3: -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.

Detailed explanation-4: -Peasants lived in the bottom tier of the Third Estate’s social hierarchy and formed between 82 and 88 percent. Peasant-farmers were France’s poorest social class.

Detailed explanation-5: -Peasants formed the largest group within the Third Estate, more than 80 per-cent of France’s 26 million people. Peasants paid about half their income in dues to nobles, tithes to the Church, and taxes to the king’s agents.