What was Abbe Sieyes's view of the third estate?

Although
he was a member of the clergy and therefore a member of the First Estate, Abbe Siey¨s was a
true champion of the rights of the Third Estate. Since the segment of the Fench population
included all non-nobility and non-clergy, it consisted of about 98 percent of the total French
population at the time of the French Revolution. Despite this, the Third Estate had the fewest
rights and privileges and paid the heaviest burden in terms of taxes and labor.

Abbe Siey¨s saw the Third Estate as the truest representation of the French
population. An avid student of the Enlightenment, Siey¨s was greatly influenced by the works of
such philosophers as John Locke and Turgot. This influence caused him to rethink the way that
governments should represent the will of the people. Because, as he put it, the Third Estate was
"everything" they deserved to have a government in which they played the biggest role
and had their fair share of rights and privileges.

In 1789, Siey¨s penned
his famous...

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