How did the question of slavery challenge the universality of the French Revolution?

Correct answer: It asked whether rights would remain limited to European citizens or extend to enslaved people too

The governing concept is the universality of rights. The French Revolution proclaimed liberty and equality as principles applicable to human beings, yet French colonial society continued to rely on enslaved labour and denied enslaved people those same rights. This created a direct test: would the words of the Declaration and revolutionary ideals apply only to Europeans in France, or would they also protect people in the colonies? Option A is correct because it identifies this contradiction between universal language and restricted practice. Option B concerns monarchy, not the colonial rights problem. Option C refers to another revolutionary issue, and option D reduces the Revolution to food shortages rather than its wider political and moral challenge.