How did the formation of the United States contribute to the Enlightenment in
Europe?
A. It inspired European monarchs to appease the people's wishes for
equal rights and political freedom.
O
B. It drew many European nations into lengthy wars that caused
them to question existing political structures,
C. It allowed Europeans to see the philosophies they had been
discussing put into practice,
0
D. It produced leading philosophers who inspired the constitutions of
many post-revolution European countries.

Since the very first news of the American Revolution, European reformers and future revolutionaries have begun to look closely at its example. The texts of the Declaration of Independence and Constitutions (USA and individual states) influenced the documents of the French Revolution and were included in the ‘compulsory/ reading of European radicals.

The publication of Alexis de Tocqueville's book Democracy in America in 1835 and its immense popularity in Europe was the first sign that the American example was beginning to play a role in political debate. The European revolutions of 1848–1849, dubbed Spring of Nations, marked a turning point in the development of ideas about the place of the United States in world politics.

On the whole, the “young democrats” in Europe formed the two prevailing images of the American revolution: as a struggle for national identity and a “universalist” revolution, “in the interests of all mankind” - a world-wide revolution that overthrew the monarchy and established a republican form of government that rooted the sovereignty of the people.