Question

read the passage from sugar changed the world. 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 excerpt from the passage best states the authors claim? 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. they created the most effective public relations campaign in history, inventing techniques that we use to this day clarkson and others organized what we would call a boycott of the blood - sweetened beverage

Explanation:

The authors' claim is the central argument of the passage. The first option only mentions the English getting richer due to African enslavement. The third option focuses on a public relations campaign. The fourth option is about a boycott. The second option, however, ties the English's stake in slavery (from the first part of the passage) with the antislavery forces' opportunity (the main idea of the passage - that the connection to slavery gave a chance to end it), which is the over - arching claim.

Answer:

"… while that link gave the English a stake in slavery, it also gave the antislavery forces an opportunity."