GRE Reading Comprehension
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Source: NO4
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 statements regarding American society in the years immediately following the War of Independence is best supported by the passage?
- A The unexpected successes of the antislavery societies led to their gradual demise in the Eastern states.
- B Some of the newly independent American states had begun to make progress toward abolishing slavery.
- C Americans like Abigail Adams became disillusioned with the slow progress of emancipation and gradually abandoned the cause.
- D Emancipated slaves gradually were accepted in the Eastern states as equal members of American society.
- E The abolition of slavery in many Eastern states was the result of close cooperation between religious groups and free Blacks.