The nobility in France enjoyed special privileges over the peasants during the late 1700s. Although most French peasants were ostensibly free, they still had to pay feudal dues. They owed the corvee, which was forced labor on public works projects such as roads and bridges. Peasants also had weak property rights with the capitaineries feudal dues that allowed the nobles to destroy peasant lands in pursuit of their own goals. The nobility did not have to pay taxes but enjoyed many advantages on the backs of the peasants doing forced labor.
