Question

the southern army had held fort sumter, a large defensive mason fort at the mouth of charleston harbor. was a blockade of northern ships. smalls and his wife, hannah, dreamed of escaping from slavery and raising freedom. smalls believed that he and his family might be free if they could make it to the blockade. ing hours of may 13, the planters three white officers left the ship to spend the night ashore. seizing the and the majority of the other enslaved crewmembers set an escape plan in motion. they decided to steal the and that if anything went wrong, they would scuttle it to avoid capture. of the boats boilers and set off. smalls first picked up his family and the families of the other crewmen from a h slim town, his mother, and three children aboard, the planter headed toward the mouth of the harbor. ed by fort johnson, near the southern docks of the harbor. smalls gave the secret signal—two long pulls what pulled the whistle cord—and the sentry let the steamer pass. he put on the broad - brimmed straw hat that planters captain. disguised that way, he again gave the signal and was allowed to steam past fort sumter. eager of the forts guns, he increased the ships speed for the last three miles. ylled alongside the onward, he announced to the commander that he was returning “some of your u.s. guns. proved to be a great prize for the north. the vessel could travel in shallower waters than most other ships. smalls admiral thomas drayton, the union commander of the blockade, a book he had managed to steal that contained all the still - hidden of the confederate navy. g the story of smallss escape from slavery, a writer at the new york times declared the deed to be “one of the of the war. ” if they had been caught, the punishment would have been severe. smalls and his fellow s were supplied the prize money for the confederate vessel. r instantly interested about smalls. carolinas waterways with the union navy. he had managed the, d cause and effect part b which excerpt from paragraph 11 best supports the correct answer to part a? a smallss actions introduced him to important men b in a meeting with president abraham lincoln c african americans could make an important contribution d smalls helped raise 5,000 volunteers

Explanation:

To determine the correct answer, we analyze the context. Part A likely relates to a claim about African Americans' contributions (implied by the options). Option C directly states "African Americans could make an important contribution", which would support a claim about their role. Other options (A about meeting important men, B about Lincoln meeting, D about recruiting volunteers) don't directly support a claim about their contribution as clearly as C.

Answer:

C. African Americans could make an important contribution