Question

the english public, now consuming some eighteen pounds of sugar a year, knew little about the lives of the enslaved africans whose labor sweetened their meals. worse yet, every englishman who hammered the wood, sewed the sails, manufactured the rope for slave ships, or built the barrels to hold slave - harvested sugar made his money from the slave trade. the english were getting richer because africans were being turned into property. clarkson and others who believed as he did, who in the coming decades would be called abolitionists, realized that while that link gave the english a stake in slavery, it also gave the antislavery forces an opportunity. if they could reverse the flow—make the horrors of slavery visible to those who benefited from it—they might be able to end the vile practice forever. which quotation provides evidence to support the claim that the sugar trade led to the end of slavery? “the english public... knew little about the lives of the enslaved africans whose labor sweetened their meals.” “every englishman who... built the barrels to hold slave - harvested sugar made his money from the slave trade.” “the english were getting richer because africans were being turned into property.” “while that link gave the english a stake in slavery, it also gave the antislavery forces an opportunity.”

Explanation:

The claim is that the sugar trade led to the end of slavery. The key is to find a quotation that shows a connection between the sugar - related slave trade and the opportunity for its end.

• The first option just mentions the English public's ignorance, not the end of slavery.
• The second option shows Englishmen profiting from the slave trade (related to sugar as it's slave - harvested sugar), but it doesn't show the end of slavery.
• The third option shows the English getting richer from slavery (again related to sugar as it's part of the sugar - slave system), but not the end.
• The fourth option “While that link gave the English a stake in slavery, it also gave the antislavery forces an opportunity” shows that the very system (the link which includes the sugar - slave trade) that made the English have a stake in slavery also provided an opening for those who wanted to end slavery. This directly supports the claim that the sugar trade (as part of the “link”) led to the end of slavery.

Answer:

“The link” in the fourth option refers to the sugar - slave trade connection. It implies that the existence of the sugar - slave trade system (the link) created a situation where antislavery forces could act. So the correct answer is “While that link gave the English a stake in slavery, it also gave the antislavery forces an opportunity.”