According to the Enlightenment social contract idea, what did French citizens claim during the 1789 Revolution?

According to the Enlightenment social contract idea, what did French citizens claim during the 1789 Revolution?

• A. The king granted women the right to vote
• B. French citizens claimed their natural rights
• C. The king raised taxes to pay off public debt
• D. French citizens supported the king against the nobles

Answer: (B)

The social contract idea centers on rights that people inherently hold and on government existing to protect those rights, not to grant them. In 1789, French citizens argued that their natural rights—liberty, equality, and property—belonged to them by nature and should be safeguarded by a government formed with the people’s consent. This is exactly what the Revolution and documents like the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen expressed: a claim to inherent rights and a demand for political structures based on consent. The other options miss the core point: the push wasn’t about the king granting voting rights to women, about taxes as the main claim, or about backing the king against the nobles.

The social contract idea centers on rights that people inherently hold and on government existing to protect those rights, not to grant them. In 1789, French citizens argued that their natural rights—liberty, equality, and property—belonged to them by nature and should be safeguarded by a government formed with the people’s consent. This is exactly what the Revolution and documents like the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen expressed: a claim to inherent rights and a demand for political structures based on consent. The other options miss the core point: the push wasn’t about the king granting voting rights to women, about taxes as the main claim, or about backing the king against the nobles.