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Difficulty: MediumBlack Abolitionism and Anti-Slavery Activism

Read the passage below and answer the following question.

"We ask not that the colored man should remain in the United States to be a bystander, while his brethren are being crushed by the iron heel of oppression... Canada West is the place to which we would direct the attention of our people. There they may enjoy the rights of British subjects, purchase land, and educate their children under equal laws, beyond the reach of the slaveholder and the commissioner."
— Mary Ann Shadd Cary, A Plea for Emigration, 1852

Which of the following historical developments in the United States most directly prompted the advocacy described in the passage?

  1. A
    The establishment of the American Colonization Society, which Cary partnered with to deport free Black populations to Liberia
  2. B
    The Supreme Court's ruling in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, which Cary cited as the primary legal justification for leaving the country
  3. C
    The widespread implementation of Jim Crow segregation laws, which legally barred Black children from attending northern public schools
  4. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which compromised the safety of both free and formerly enslaved Black Americans in the NorthAnswer

Answer

The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which compromised the safety of both free and formerly enslaved Black Americans in the North
The correct answer is correct because the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 dramatically increased the vulnerability of both free and formerly enslaved Black people living in the North by allowing federal commissioners to capture and return them to the South without due process. This direct threat to their freedom and safety prompted Mary Ann Shadd Cary and other emigrationists to advocate for relocation to Canada West, where British law offered legal protection and civil rights.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the date and context of the primary source stimulus.
The text was written in 1852 by Mary Ann Shadd Cary, advocating for Black Americans to emigrate to Canada West (present-day Ontario) to escape insecure conditions under US law.
Establishes the chronological and thematic boundaries of the question.
2
Identify the major legislative event of the early 1850s that threatened the safety of Black people in northern free states.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 authorized federal commissioners to bypass local courts and return suspected runaways to the South, denying them jury trials and endangering even long-time free Black residents in the North.
Connects Cary's specific mention of 'the commissioner' and 'insecurity' to the correct historical catalyst.
3
Evaluate the incorrect options to rule them out based on chronology and historical accuracy.
The American Colonization Society was opposed by Cary; the Dred Scott decision occurred later in 1857; and Jim Crow segregation laws were post-Reconstruction southern policies, not antebellum northern ones.
Confirms the validity of the correct option by elimination.

Key Concept

The impact of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 on Black abolitionist strategies and emigrationism.
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Topics

Black Abolitionism and Anti-Slavery Activism

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