Directions:(1-10) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions which follow.

While the US was founded on principles of representation, due process and universal rights, slavery remained one of the most persistent and visible exceptions to these ideals.

Slavery, including chattel slavery, was a legal institution in the US from the colonial period until the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution (1865). Most slaves in the US were people brought from Africa and their descendants, and this racial dimension of US slavery continues to impact US civil rights debates. By 1860, four million people lived as slaves in the US, and most worked in the agriculture sector. The rise in the southern cotton industry after 1800 also led to a steady increase in slavery, which then became a major catalyst for the Civil War.

The conditions of slavery were harsh, starting with the “middle passage” where Africans were stuffed into the hulls of ships like cargo. Some fifteen percent of enslaved people are estimated to have died during travel from Africa. In the US the conditions of slavery acted to dehumanize enslaved people denying them even basic rights. The use of native languages was banned, and it was illegal to learn or teach reading and writing. Marriages were banned, and children were often taken away from parents to be sold. It was also common for slave owners to sexually assault enslaved women. Finally, working conditions were long and hard, especially for field workers, and violence was an ever present part of life.

Throughout this period many people worked to end slavery. Early abolitionist legislation included Congress prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territory (1787), and a ban on the import or export of slaves (1808) in the US and Britain. Resistance to slavery also took other forms including institutions such as the Underground Railway that helped escaping slaves make their way to freedom.

Abolitionists came from various communities including religious groups such as the Quakers, white anti-slavery activists such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, and former slaves and free people of color such as Frederick Douglass, Robert Purvis and James Forten. While some abolitionists called for an immediate end to slavery, others favored more gradual approaches. These included the banning of slavery in the territories, and manumission campaigns encouraging individual owners to free slaves.

Abolitionists used several arguments against slavery. As early as 1688, Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania presented a petition to end slavery based on religious obligation and natural rights to equality. In 1774, a group of enslaved people in Massachusetts petitioned the governor against slavery used similar arguments including the natural rights of all people, the demands of Christian brotherhood, and the harsh conditions of slavery. By the 1830s, evangelical groups became quite active in the abolitionist movement including the formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. These groups often also supported other reform movements such as temperance movements and supports for public schools.

Early politicians and constitutional authors including Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson also had reservations about slavery because of their commitment to equal rights. However, many of these same politicians also owned slaves.

By 1804, most of the northern states had moved towards the abolition of slavery. Although this process was quite gradual, and freed slaves were often subject to racial segregation and discrimination. Manumission campaigns in the Upper South were also successful in increasing the number of free people of color in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware where, by 1810, three-quarters of Black people in Delaware were free.

Support for slavery remained the strongest in the southern states where slavery was an important economic institution for cotton and other agricultural industries strongest in the South. The conflict over slavery became a key catalyst for the Civil War that divided northern and southern states.

1. Which of the following acts declared the slavery to be illegal in the United States?

Ans: 4
From the first paragraph of the passage, it is clear that slavery was legal in US until Emancipation proclamation and thirteenth amendment of the constitution. Thus, it implies that slaver was illegalized by these acts. America’s anti-slavery society was a society which fought to give equal rights to the slaves. It was not about legalizing. Hence only a and b are correct.

2. Who among the following was not an abolitionist?

Ans: 5
In the fifth paragraph author says that abolitionists came from different backgrounds. He then quotes some people to show the diverse backgrounds that they came from. All a, b, c and d have been mentioned by the author in this passage. Hence, the correct answer is option e, ‘none of these’.

3. Which of the following best sums up the information given in the third last paragraph?

Ans: 4
In the mentioned paragraph, the author mentions some politicians and authors who had reservations against slavery. But these people themselves kept slaves. Hence it was quite ironical that people who themselves have slaves are opposing slavery. So, d is the correct answer.

4. Which of the following is incorrect as per the passage?

Ans: 2
a and d are directly mentioned in the last paragraph. Hence both of them are true. C is also mentioned in the fourth paragraph. A is clearly given in the second paragraph. B is incorrect as it is given that import export was banned in 1808. Hence, b is incorrect.

5. Which of the following is not mentioned with regards to the conditions of the slaves in the US as discussed in the passage?

Ans: 5
The harsh conditions that the slaves faced have been mentioned in the third paragraph. All of these except ‘e’ have been mentioned in that paragraph. Hence, the correct answer is option E.

6. Which of the following is true as per the passage?

Ans: 5
It has been mentioned in the second paragraph that most slaves in US were from Africa. Hence, a is correct. C has been mentioned in the beginning of the passage and reiterated at the end. Hence C is also correct. From the first line of the fifth paragraph, it is clear that Quarks were religious groups. Thus, all of these are correct.

7. Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the following word.
EMANCIPATION

Ans: 3
Emancipation means to liberate or free someone. Hence liberation is nearest to its meaning. So option C is the correct answer.

8. Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the following word.
SEGREGATION

Ans: 4
Segregation means separation. Hence option d is the correct answer.

9. Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the following word.
OBLIGATION

Ans: 5
Obligation means something which is binding on the person. Hence the opposite of obligation would be something which is optional. Hence the word, farthest in meaning to obligation is optional.

10. Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the following word.
NATIVE

Ans: 3
Native means things which are natural to someone. Hence it’s opposite would be something which is foreign or alien. Thus, option C is the correct answer.
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