Final answer:
The first European country to declare independence from a king was the Netherlands.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first European country to declare independence from a king was c) Netherlands. In the late eighteenth century, new ideas of freedom spread throughout the Americas, inspired by the examples set by the Declaration of Independence in the British American colonies and the French Revolution.
These principles, combined with poor conditions for the majority of people in the European American colonies and a growing distrust of monarchy, led to revolutions against colonial authorities. The Netherlands won independence from Spain at the end of the European Thirty Years' War and quickly became a significant trading center and colonial power in the Americas.