The phrase that best describes British at the time is:
B. A constitutional monarchy with elected officials holding most political power
Explanation:
By the time of the 19th century Britain had taken a lot of the power of the monarchy away from them due to the constant and slow power struggle between the parliament and the ruler.
By the time of Queen Victoria the prime minster of the nation was a s powerful or more but in name the Queen remained on top and was a big presence on the world stage.
This is why the place was more of a constitutional monarchy than anything else.
The third one, Gerald Ford
The reason why Jefferson address the declaration of independence to the " opinions of mankind " is that he wanted to know or to declare what is the reason why they or the people want to separate. They need a decent respect for opinions of mankind that they need to declared the cause to the separation.