Read the following passage.
A. In Britain, abolitionists had argued against the transatlantic slave trade since the 1770s. Their ideas influenced John Graves Simcoe, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. On 14 March 1793, Sergeant Adam Vrooman tied up Chloe Cooley, a Black woman he enslaved, and with the help of two other men took her by boat across the Niagara River to sell her in New York. Two witnesses reported the violent sale to Simcoe and the Executive Council. Simcoe and Attorney General John White used the incident to introduce a bill, and an amended compromise became law on 9 July 1793.
B. Farther east, bills to end slavery failed in Lower Canada in 1793 and 1801, but court cases undermined it. In February 1798, James Monk, a judge with abolitionist sympathies, released an enslaved woman named Charlotte on a technicality. Britain banned the trade in enslaved people throughout its empire in 1807. In 1833 alone, abolitionist petitions in Britain gathered 1.3 million signatures. The Slavery Abolition Act became law on 28 August 1833 and came into force on 1 August 1834, freeing more than 800,000 enslaved Africans in most British colonies.
C. In 1850 the United States passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed people who had escaped enslavement in the North to be captured and returned to the South. In the next decade, between 15,000 and 20,000 African American refugees moved to Canada. On 26 February 1851, the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada was formed in Toronto to promote abolition and to help these refugees. Its leaders came from both Black and White communities. In April 1851, Frederick Douglass, who had himself escaped enslavement, spoke in Toronto in a lecture series the society sponsored. A Toronto women's association collected almost 14,000 signatures for a petition in 1853.
D. Historians stress what these laws did not do. The 1793 Act did not free any enslaved person in Upper Canada, and it still allowed sales inside the colony and across the border. The 1833 Act gave most enslaved people in British North America only partial freedom, because it freed children under six while others had to serve four to six more years as apprentices. Those formerly enslaved received no compensation. Historians also question the persistent myth that enslaved people in Canada were treated better than those in the United States and the Caribbean, since the same belief that Black people were less than human justified slavery in all three places.
E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.
Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Correct Answer: D
Why this is correct: What the laws did not do is the subject of paragraph D. The 1793 Act did not free any enslaved person in Upper Canada. So people who were already enslaved stayed that way. The statement means the same thing.
Passage Reference: The 1793 Act did not free any enslaved person in Upper Canada, and it still allowed sales inside the colony and across the border.
Tips: Two paragraphs name the 1793 law. Ask which one tells you what the law did not do.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A tells how the 1793 law came about after the Chloe Cooley case. It gives the date the law was approved, but not what the law failed to do.
- B: Paragraph B mentions 1793 too, but only for a bill in Lower Canada that failed. It says nothing about the Upper Canada law.
- C: Paragraph C is about refugees and the society formed in Toronto in 1851. The law of 1793 does not come up there.
- E: The limit of the 1793 law is explained near the start of Paragraph D. Read the second sentence.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Two witnesses reported the violent sale to Simcoe and the Executive Council.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A tells the story of Chloe Cooley. She was taken by boat across the Niagara River. Two witnesses reported this to Simcoe and the Executive Council. Those were the leaders of the colony.
Tips: Look for the paragraph that tells a single event with a boat and a river.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B describes a judge who freed a woman named Charlotte. Nobody in it reports a sale to leaders.
- C: Paragraph C describes people who escaped to Canada. It does not talk about a woman taken across a river.
- D: Paragraph D explains how historians see the laws. It tells no story about witnesses.
- E: The witnesses and the boat are both in Paragraph A, in the story of Chloe Cooley.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: In February 1798, James Monk, a judge with abolitionist sympathies, released an enslaved woman named Charlotte on a technicality.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph B. The judge James Monk released a woman named Charlotte on a technicality. A technicality is a small point in the law. That is what the statement says.
Tips: Find the judge and the woman he set free. Then check what reason is given for his decision.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about Chloe Cooley and a new law. No judge sets anyone free there.
- C: Paragraph C is about refugees who escaped to Canada. They were not freed by a judge.
- D: Paragraph D talks about laws and what historians think of them. It does not mention any court case.
- E: The judge and Charlotte appear in Paragraph B. It is the second sentence.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Their ideas influenced John Graves Simcoe, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.
Why this is correct: Paragraph A starts with abolitionists in Britain. The next sentence says their ideas influenced John Graves Simcoe. So British campaigners shaped his views.
Tips: Britain appears in more than one paragraph. Find the one that joins Britain to Simcoe.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B also talks about Britain, with the petitions and the 1833 law. But Simcoe is not named there.
- C: Paragraph C is about the 1850s in Toronto. Simcoe does not appear in it.
- D: Paragraph D judges the 1793 law, but it does not say where Simcoe got his ideas.
- E: Paragraph A links Simcoe to the ideas of abolitionists in Britain.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: In April 1851, Frederick Douglass, who had himself escaped enslavement, spoke in Toronto in a lecture series the society sponsored.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C names Frederick Douglass. He had escaped enslavement himself. In April 1851 he spoke in Toronto in a lecture series. So he gave a talk there.
Tips: Ask who gave a talk in Toronto. Then check whether he had once got away from slavery himself.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A tells of a woman taken to New York to be sold. It does not describe anyone giving a talk.
- B: Paragraph B mentions petitions and court cases. No speaker is named.
- D: Paragraph D gives the views of historians. It does not describe any talk in Toronto.
- E: The talk by Frederick Douglass is in Paragraph C, near the end.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: In 1833 alone, abolitionist petitions in Britain gathered 1.3 million signatures.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph B. In 1833 alone, petitions in Britain gathered 1.3 million signatures. That is more than one million in one year.
Tips: Two paragraphs mention signatures. Compare the size of the two numbers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about the Cooley case and the 1793 law. No petitions are counted there.
- C: Be careful with Paragraph C. It has a petition too, but with almost 14,000 names, far fewer than a million.
- D: Paragraph D talks about freedom and payment after the laws. It gives no count of signatures.
- E: The count of 1.3 million signatures is in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: On 26 February 1851, the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada was formed in Toronto to promote abolition and to help these refugees.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C tells you when the society was formed and why. It says its leaders were Black and White. It never says how many members it had, so this cannot be checked.
Tips: Numbers in the text count refugees and signatures. Check whether any of them counts members.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about 1793 and the Cooley case. The society did not exist yet.
- B: Paragraph B counts petition signatures in Britain. It gives no figure for any group's members.
- C: Paragraph C describes the society and its leaders. It does not give any number of members.
- D: Paragraph D is about what historians say of the laws. The society is not mentioned there.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: The Slavery Abolition Act became law on 28 August 1833 and came into force on 1 August 1834, freeing more than 800,000 enslaved Africans in most British colonies.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B gives two dates for the law. The Act became law on 28 August 1833. It came into force on 1 August 1834. That is the following year.
Tips: Paragraph D also names the 1833 Act. Look for the paragraph with two dates for it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A gives the date of the 1793 law in Upper Canada. It does not give a later start date.
- C: Paragraph C gives the year of a law in the United States. That law is about capture, not freedom.
- D: Paragraph D talks about the 1833 Act, but only about who was freed. It gives no dates for when it started.
- E: Both dates for the Slavery Abolition Act appear in Paragraph B.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Those formerly enslaved received no compensation.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph D. It says those formerly enslaved received no compensation. Compensation is money paid for a loss. So they got nothing.
Tips: Focus on what happened after people were freed. Check whether they were paid anything for their losses.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes a sale of a woman for money. It says nothing about paying anyone after slavery ended.
- B: Paragraph B says how many people the 1833 Act freed. It does not say if they were paid.
- C: Paragraph C says the society was formed to help refugees. It does not mention money for freed people.
- E: The lack of compensation is stated in Paragraph D, in a short sentence.
The rest of this explanation is for members. Sign in free to read why the other options are wrong, key words and tips.
Sign in to read the full explanation