What characterized the Enlightenment's influence on the Revolution?

• A. Equality before the law and natural rights
• B. Divine right of kings
• C. Feudal privileges
• D. Isolationism

Answer: (A)

The Enlightenment’s influence on the Revolution centers on the belief that reason and natural rights limit what government may do, and that individuals have inherent rights that the state must protect. Thinkers such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu argued that legitimate political authority derives from rational principles and the consent of the governed, not from tradition or inherited privilege. This shift promoted equality before the law—everyone being subject to the same legal rules—and the idea that rights like liberty and property are universal, not the privilege of a noble class. Those ideas gave revolutionaries a powerful justification to challenge absolute monarchy, dismantle hereditary privileges, and push for constitutions or declarations that formalized citizens’ rights.

Divine right of kings upholds the ruler’s absolute authority, which runs directly counter to Enlightenment arguments about reason and rights. Feudal privileges protected aristocratic exemptions and special status, clashing with the Enlightenment push for equal rights under law. Isolationism focuses on staying apart from others’ affairs, which isn’t connected to the political philosophy driving revolutionary reforms.