MAKING OF A NEW NATION 1776 1800
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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a smaller tax burden than the other estates
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a high tax burden and little political power
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a voice in government equal to that of the First and Second Estates
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greater political influence than the clergy
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Detailed explanation-1: -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.
Detailed explanation-2: -Regardless of their property and wealth, members of the Third Estate were subject to inequitable taxation and were politically disregarded by the Ancien Régime. This exclusion contributed to rising revolutionary sentiment in the late 1780s.
Detailed explanation-3: -In turn, they also effectively started the French Revolution, which would sweep away not just the king and the old laws but the whole Estates system in favor of citizenship. The Third Estate had therefore left a major mark on history when it effectively gained the power to dissolve itself.
Detailed explanation-4: -Peasants, wage earners, and the professional and business classes, collectively known as the Third Estate, bore the brunt of the tax load.