Question

During the Age of Enlightenment, constitutionalism was adopted in many European and American nations. Why did some members of the nobility, or upper classes, resist the movement toward constitutionalism?

The members of the noble classes all hoped for a chance to become king, and wanted absolute power.

Many in the upper class feared that the lower classes might try to oppress them if they had absolute power.

Constitutions gave common people as much political and legal power as people born into the noble class.

Many of the people in the upper (noble) class misunderstood the concept and therefore distrusted it.

Answer 1

Best answer: "Constitutions gave common people as much political and legal power as people born into the noble class."

Why: constitutionalism threatened the nobles' traditional privileges — legal exemptions, political influence, feudal rights, control over taxation and local justice. Many nobles resisted because they would lose power, wealth, and social status if government authority and citizenship rights were extended to broader groups.

Notes on the other choices:
- The first choice is incorrect: most nobles did not hope to become king; they wanted to keep their own privileges, not absolute monarchy for themselves.
- The second choice is poorly worded but contains a grain of truth: nobles feared that empowering commoners could lead to challenges to their position or even collective oppression of the elite.
- The fourth choice is possible in some cases (distrust of new ideas), but it was not the main reason compared with the concrete loss of privilege and power.