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By the time the American colonists took up arms against Great Britain in order to secure their independence, the institution of Black slavery was deeply entrenched. But the contradiction inherent in this situation was, for many, a source of constant embarrassment. “It always appeared a most iniquitous scheme to me,” Abigail Adams wrote her husband in 1774, “to fight ourselves for what We are daily robbing and plundering from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have.”
Many Americans besides Abigail Adams were struck by the inconsistency of their stand during the War of Independence, and they were not averse to making moves to emancipate the slaves. Quakers and other religious groups organized antislavery societies, while numerous individuals manumitted their slaves. In fact, within several years of the end of the War of Independence, most of the Eastern states had made-provisions for the gradual emancipation of slaves.
Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?(select all correct answers)
A.The War of Independence produced among many Black Americans a heightened consciousness of the inequities in American society.
B.The War of Independence strengthened the bonds of slavery of many Black Americans while intensifying their desire to be free.
C.The War of Independence exposed to many Americans the contradiction of slavery in a country seeking its freedom and resulted in efforts to resolve that contradiction.
D.The War of Independence provoked strong criticisms by many Americans of the institution of slavery, but produced little substantive action against it.
E.The War of Independence renewed the efforts of many American groups toward achieving Black emancipation.
According to the passage, the War of Independence was embarrassing to some Americans for which of the following reasons?
A.It involved a struggle for many of the same liberties that Americans were denying to others.
B.It involved a struggle for independence from the very nation that had founded the colonies.
C.It involved a struggle based on inconsistencies in the participants’conceptions of freedom.
