WORLD HISTORY

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: -The best known system is the French Ancien Régime (Old Regime), a three-estate system which was made up of clergy (the First Estate), nobles (Second Estate), peasants and bourgeoisie (Third Estate).

Detailed explanation-3: -Paris, with around 650, 000, was by far the largest. Most commoners in the towns and cities made a living as merchants, skilled artisans or unskilled workers.

Detailed explanation-4: -According to French historian Georges Lefebvre, out of the 27 million people who lived in France in 1789, no more than 100, 000 belonged to the First Estate, while approximately 400, 000 belonged to the Second. That left an overwhelming majority, roughly 26.5 million people, to the Third Estate.

Detailed explanation-5: -– The peasants, who alone constituted 75 to 80% of the total population, were by far the largest segment of the Third Estate. They owned about 35 to 40% of the land, although their landholdings varied from area to area and over half had little or no land on which to survive.