Which class was NOT part of the three estates in the Estates-General?

The correct choice highlights that merchants were not considered a distinct class within the traditional structure of the Estates-General in France. The Estates-General was composed of three main groups: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners.

The clergy represented the first estate, consisting of the religious leaders and members of the Church. The nobility made up the second estate, consisting of aristocrats who held titles and land. The commoners, or the third estate, included a broad range of social classes, from wealthy bourgeois merchants to peasants, but they were all grouped together under a single category.

Merchants were indeed part of the broader third estate, but they did not form a separate estate in the political structure of the Estates-General. Instead, they shared representation with various other groups within the commoners. This distinction is crucial for understanding the political and social organization in pre-revolutionary France, particularly how different classes viewed their status and representation within the French government.