What was the significance of the 'Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen'?

• A. It codified religious authority as the basis of government.
• B. It established rule by the clergy.
• C. It proclaimed universal rights, equality before the law, due process, and sovereignty of the people.
• D. It created the modern constitution for France.

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is how the Declaration frames rights and political legitimacy. It proclaims universal rights for all people, equality before the law, due process, and that sovereignty rests with the people. Emerging during the French Revolution in 1789, it reflects Enlightenment thinking that government exists to protect natural rights, not to privilege a religious or aristocratic class. This makes it a landmark shift away from authority based on tradition or church power toward a secular, universal framework for citizenship. It did not itself create the modern French constitution, but its principles shaped constitutional thinking and later legal frameworks, influencing ideas about liberty and rights that spread beyond France. The other options clash with this focus: they imply religious authority or clerical rule, or treat the Declaration as the direct modern constitution, which it was not.