Question

escape to freedom
history writing by laura phillips
1 on may 13, 1862, just outside charleston harbor, south carolina, the union naval commander of the uss onward was about to
give the order to fire on an armed confederate steamship heading his way. then he noticed a white flag of surrender on the
steamer’s mast. the pilot of the boat was an enslaved african american named robert smalls, who was attempting to escape by
stealing the confederate ship?
2 smalls was born into slavery on april 5, 1839, in beaufort, south carolina. by the time he was 12 years old, his master began to
hire him out to do various jobs in charleston. smalls eventually worked at the docks, learning how to make sails and paint ships.
he also learned how to read nautical maps. over time, he became an excellent sailor and navigator. he could steer any ship
through narrow waterways without running into rocks.
3 in 1861, smalls was working on a 150 - foot steamboat called the planter. the powerful steamer had been turned into a
confederate army ferry and supply transport. it was the fastest vessel in the harbor and, as such, was the most important ship in
the whole charleston fleet.
4 since april 1861, the southern army had held fort sumter, a large defensive island fort at the mouth of charleston harbor.
beyond the harbor was a blockade of northern ships. smalls and his wife, hannah, dreamed of escaping from slavery and raising
their four children in freedom. smalls believed that he and his family might be free if they could make it to the blockade.
5 in the early morning hours of may 13, the planter’s three white officers left the ship to spend the night ashore. seeing the
opportunity, smalls and the majority of the other enslaved crewmembers set an escape plan in motion. they decided to steal the
ship, but they agreed that if anything went wrong, they would blow it up to avoid capture.
6 the crew fired up the boat’s boilers and set off. smalls first picked up his family and the families of the other crewmen from a
nearby wharf. with nine men, four women, and three children aboard, the planter headed toward the mouth of the harbor
in paragraph 7 of “escape to freedom,” why is the planter
able to pass both forts without trouble?
a smalls knows which signals to give.
b smalls knows the guards at the harbors.
c smalls is out of shooting range of the guns.
d smalls increases his speed during the last three
miles.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the text. From paragraph 2, we know Smalls learned to read nautical maps, became an excellent sailor/navigator, and could steer ships through narrow waterways. Also, as a Confederate ship's pilot, he would know the signals (since he worked on the ship and in the harbor). Option A says "Smalls knows which signals to give" – this makes sense because knowing nautical signals (from his experience) would let him pass the forts. Option B: the text doesn't say he knew the guards. Option C: no info on shooting range. Option D: no mention of increasing speed in the last three miles. So A is correct.

Answer:

A. Smalls knows which signals to give