The Three EstatesFrench inhabitants were legally divided into three orders, or estates: the clergy, the nobility, and everyone else. In this political cartoon from 1789 a peasant of the third estate struggles under the weight of a happy clergyman and a plumed nobleman. The caption — “Let’s hope this game ends soon” — sets forth a program of reform that any peasant could understand. (Musée de la Ville de Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France/The Bridgeman Art Library)