Read the following passage.
A. The 1793 Act to Limit Slavery freed no one already enslaved in Upper Canada, but one provision made any enslaved person free as soon as they reached Upper Canada, and a small number of freedom seekers came, mostly without help. Word spread further after the War of 1812, when enslaved servants of officers from the South brought back news of free Black men in red coats in British North America. On 1 August 1834, slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. By then a secret network, started early in the century by abolitionists based mainly in Philadelphia, had begun to be called the Underground Railroad.
B. The Underground Railroad was not a real railway. It was a hidden network of people and safe houses, and railroad words helped to mask its work. Guides who led escaping people north were called conductors, safe houses were stations, and the station masters who ran them gave meals, clothing and a place to hide. Helpers included free Black people, White and Indigenous sympathizers, Quakers and Methodists, Americans and Canadians. Many freedom seekers walked, while others rode in wagons or crossed lakes and rivers by boat, usually moving at night and resting during the day.
C. Arrivals rose sharply after the American Fugitive Slave Act became law in 1850, because it allowed slave catchers to pursue people who had escaped to the Northern states. Between 1850 and 1860, 15,000 to 20,000 freedom seekers reached the Province of Canada. Harriet Tubman changed her route so that it ended in Canada, and she began and ended her rescues in St. Catharines, where she moved in 1851. She made at least 10 trips and guided at least 70 people to freedom. Newcomers also built settlements such as Dawn, near Dresden, where Josiah Henson helped found a school, and the Elgin Settlement at Buxton, established in 1849.
D. The Underground Railroad is described as the largest anti-slavery freedom movement in North America, and it brought between 30,000 and 40,000 people to British North America. Henson's link to Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel made him one of the best known Canadians of his day and raised international awareness of Canada as a haven. At Buxton, many White settlers opposed the new community and feared it would lower property values. Black people were often kept in certain jobs because of their skin colour, and many were denied the right to live in some places. Parents had to send their children to segregated schools in parts of Ontario and Nova Scotia.
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: C
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph C: it says arrivals rose sharply after the American Fugitive Slave Act became law in 1850. That law let slave catchers chase people in the Northern states, so far more of them went on to Canada.
Passage Reference: Arrivals rose sharply after the American Fugitive Slave Act became law in 1850, because it allowed slave catchers to pursue people who had escaped to the Northern states.
Tips: Two laws appear in the passage. Find the American one and check that it made the numbers jump.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A also opens with a law. But it is the 1793 Act in Upper Canada, which drew only a small number of people.
- B: Paragraph B explains how the network operated, with conductors and stations. No law and no rise in numbers appear there.
- D: The fourth paragraph gives the overall total of 30,000 to 40,000 people. But it does not say what made the numbers grow.
- E: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and the sharp rise in arrivals begin Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Harriet Tubman changed her route so that it ended in Canada, and she began and ended her rescues in St. Catharines, where she moved in 1851.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph C says Tubman moved to St. Catharines in 1851. She used it as the start and end of her rescues. It gives no year when she left, so the length of her stay is not stated.
Tips: A start date alone cannot tell you how long someone stayed.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: In paragraph A, the writer covers the years up to the 1830s, before Tubman appears at all.
- B: Paragraph B describes conductors in general and does not name Tubman or any town she lived in.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it is the closest because it gives the year Tubman arrived. The year she moved away is missing.
- D: The fourth paragraph judges the network as a whole. Tubman's time in St. Catharines is not part of it.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: The 1793 Act to Limit Slavery freed no one already enslaved in Upper Canada, but one provision made any enslaved person free as soon as they reached Upper Canada, and a small number of freedom seekers came, mostly without help.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph A mentions the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery. One provision made any enslaved person free as soon as they reached Upper Canada. The year 1793 is in the late 1700s, and reaching a place means entering it.
Tips: The statement points to the late 1700s. Scan for a year in that range, then check that the rule made people free on arrival.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B follows people travelling north in secret. Any rule that set them free is not mentioned.
- C: Notice that paragraph C has the Fugitive Slave Act, a law from 1850 that worked against freedom seekers rather than freeing them.
- D: Paragraph D reviews how much of a haven Canada really was, without naming any law from the 1700s.
- E: The 1793 provision that freed anyone who reached Upper Canada is the second sentence of Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: She made at least 10 trips and guided at least 70 people to freedom.
Why this is correct: The third paragraph says Tubman began and ended her rescues in St. Catharines. She guided at least 70 people to freedom in at least 10 trips. At least 70 people is several dozen.
Tips: Notice that paragraph B talks about guides in general. Look for one woman and a number.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: In paragraph A, the writer describes early arrivals who came mostly without help, so no guide leads anyone there.
- B: Paragraph B explains that guides were called conductors, but it names no single guide and gives no number of people led.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it names Henson for his fame, not a guide who led people to a base in Canada.
- E: Tubman's base in St. Catharines and her 70 or more rescued people are both in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: Newcomers also built settlements such as Dawn, near Dresden, where Josiah Henson helped found a school, and the Elgin Settlement at Buxton, established in 1849.
Why this is correct: The third paragraph says Josiah Henson helped found a school at Dawn, near Dresden. It does not explain his reason, and nothing is said about his own schooling.
Tips: Look for a reason word such as 'because'. The passage only says what Henson did.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A deals with laws and the start of the network, before Henson or any school appears.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it lists the kinds of people who helped, but no school is mentioned.
- C: Notice that paragraph C is the nearest, since it names Henson and the school. His reason for starting it is left out.
- D: Paragraph D brings up Henson's fame from a novel, not why he wanted a school.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Parents had to send their children to segregated schools in parts of Ontario and Nova Scotia.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph ends by saying parents had to send their children to segregated schools in parts of Ontario and Nova Scotia. Segregated schools are separate schools for one group.
Tips: Two places mention schools. Ask which one describes unfair treatment of Black families, and not a school being set up.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A is about laws from 1793 and 1834. Schools are not part of it.
- B: Paragraph B names helpers such as Quakers and Methodists, but it says nothing about schools.
- C: Paragraph C mentions Henson helping to found a school, but that sentence is about building settlements, not keeping children apart.
- E: Segregated schools in Ontario and Nova Scotia are the final point of Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: The 1793 Act to Limit Slavery freed no one already enslaved in Upper Canada, but one provision made any enslaved person free as soon as they reached Upper Canada, and a small number of freedom seekers came, mostly without help.
Why this is correct: The 1793 Act to Limit Slavery is named in paragraph A, with its year and what it said. The paragraph does not say who wanted the law, and no officials in Britain are mentioned.
Tips: The passage tells what the law said. Check whether it tells who asked for it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph is the closest because it names the 1793 law. Who pushed for the law is not given.
- B: Notice that paragraph B explains how conductors and stations worked. Laws and officials do not appear.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it discusses an American law of 1850, not the 1793 one.
- D: In paragraph D, the writer looks at life in Canada afterwards and never returns to the 1793 law.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Many freedom seekers walked, while others rode in wagons or crossed lakes and rivers by boat, usually moving at night and resting during the day.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B says freedom seekers usually moved at night and rested during the day. Travelling after dark is moving at night, and stopping in daylight is resting during the day.
Tips: Find where the passage explains how people got from place to place on their escape. Check when in the day they travelled and when they stopped.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph says early freedom seekers came mostly without help, but it does not say when they travelled.
- C: Notice that paragraph C counts Tubman's trips and the people she guided. The time of day of the journeys is not given.
- D: In paragraph D, the writer gives the total who arrived and the problems they met in Canada, not how they travelled.
- E: Travel at night with rest in the day is described in Paragraph B, at the end.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Word spread further after the War of 1812, when enslaved servants of officers from the South brought back news of free Black men in red coats in British North America.
Why this is correct: In paragraph A, look at what happened after the War of 1812. Enslaved servants of officers from the South brought back news of free Black men in red coats in British North America. Bringing back news is carrying it home.
Tips: Look for 'a war' first. Then check who carried word home and what they told people.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Look at paragraph B: it describes helpers and guides of the network. No officers or servants appear there.
- C: The third paragraph mentions slave catchers under an 1850 law, which is a different group from the officers' servants.
- D: Notice that paragraph D mentions British North America as the place where people arrived. It does not say how news of free Black men first spread.
- E: The servants' news after the War of 1812 is part of Paragraph A.
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