Question

how were the 18th - century french revolutionaries inspired by the enlightenment?
a. napoleon bonaparte’s victories inspired them to believe that a powerful central ruler was necessary to stabilize the country.
b. maximilien de robespierre inspired them to believe that killing the king was necessary to legitimize the government.
c. louis xvi’s speeches inspired them to view the national debt and tax rates as the most important issues of the time.
d. jean - jacques rousseau’s writings inspired them to view practices like inherited privilege and absolute monarchy as irrational.

Explanation:

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a key Enlightenment philosopher whose works (such as The Social Contract) argued for popular sovereignty and challenged the legitimacy of absolute monarchy and feudal privileges. These ideas directly influenced French revolutionaries' opposition to the existing hierarchical system. Options A, B, and C are incorrect: Napoleon rose after the early revolutionary period, Robespierre was a revolutionary leader not an Enlightenment inspiration for the movement's core ideas, and Louis XVI was the monarch the revolution opposed, not a source of inspiration for their ideological views.

Answer:

D. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's writings inspired them to view practices like inherited privilege and absolute monarchy as irrational.