Answer:
C. The American colonies became free and independent states.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states and no longer a part of the British Empire. Therefore, option C is the correct answer.
Options A, B, and D are incorrect. The Declaration of Independence did not grant the American colonies any new rights from the king of England. The American colonies were never French colonies, and they did not remain part of England after the Declaration of Independence.