Which estate represented the vast majority of the population?

Which estate represented the vast majority of the population?

• A. 3rd Estate
• B. 1st Estate
• C. 2nd Estate
• D. Sans Culottes

Answer: (A)

Think about how French society was organized before the Revolution. The population was divided into three estates: the First Estate (clergy), the Second Estate (nobility), and the Third Estate (everyone else—peasants, workers, artisans, and the growing middle class). The Third Estate made up by far the largest share of people, roughly the vast majority, and they also bore the heaviest tax burden while having the least political power. Sans-culottes were a radical faction within the Third Estate, not a separate group that represented the entire population. So the estate representing the vast majority is the Third Estate.

Think about how French society was organized before the Revolution. The population was divided into three estates: the First Estate (clergy), the Second Estate (nobility), and the Third Estate (everyone else—peasants, workers, artisans, and the growing middle class). The Third Estate made up by far the largest share of people, roughly the vast majority, and they also bore the heaviest tax burden while having the least political power. Sans-culottes were a radical faction within the Third Estate, not a separate group that represented the entire population. So the estate representing the vast majority is the Third Estate.