Quiz for Documenting the American Promise: Massachusetts Blacks Petition for Freedom and Rights

Quiz for Documenting the American Promise

Massachusetts Blacks Petition for Freedom and Rights

Choose the best answer to each question.

Question

1. In this 1773 petition they submitted to the members of the Massachusetts colonial legislature, the four authors of Document 1 say, “The efforts made by the legislative of this province in their last sessions to free themselves from slavery gave us, who are in that deplorable state, a high degree of satisfaction.” The efforts to which they refer are the legislature’s

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is B. The petitioners are referring to the Massachusetts colonial legislators’ challenge to the British Parliament’s right to exercise its authority over local affairs. In their challenges, the legislators used language referring to their “enslavement” by Britain. The petitioners are taking advantage of that language and applying it to their own situation.
Incorrect. The correct answer is B. The petitioners are referring to the Massachusetts colonial legislators’ challenge to the British Parliament’s right to exercise its authority over local affairs. In their challenges, the legislators used language referring to their “enslavement” by Britain. The petitioners are taking advantage of that language and applying it to their own situation.

Question

2. This 1773 petition serves as evidence to support which of the following conclusions?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is D. This petition shows how slaves in Massachusetts were coopting the language that radical Patriots were using to protest against British domination in the colony to apply it to their own circumstances and use it to argue for their own freedom.
Incorrect. The correct answer is D. This petition shows how slaves in Massachusetts were coopting the language that radical Patriots were using to protest against British domination in the colony to apply it to their own circumstances and use it to argue for their own freedom.

Question

3. What are John and Paul Cuffe asking for in their 1780 petition to the Massachusetts state assembly?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is C. John and Paul Cuffe were petitioning the state assembly to argue that they should not be required to pay taxes to the state.
Incorrect. The correct answer is C. John and Paul Cuffe were petitioning the state assembly to argue that they should not be required to pay taxes to the state.

Question

4. In their petition, John and Paul Cuffe justify the legitimacy of their request by writing, “We apprehend ourselves to be Agreeved, in that while we are not allowed the Privilage of freemen of the State having no vote of Influence in the Election of those that Tax us yet many of our Colour (as it is well known) have cheerfully Entered in the field of Battle in the defence of the Common Cause and that (as we conceive) against a similar Exertion of Power (in Regard to taxation) too well Known to need a recital in this place. That these the Most honouerable Court we Humbley Beseech they would take into Consideration and Let us aside from Paying tax.” Which of the following restates their argument?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is A. The Cuffes point out that, although they defended American independence in the war against England, they did not have the right to vote. Because they lacked input into their political representation, they asked the assembly to consider their request for tax relief especially carefully.
Incorrect. The correct answer is A. The Cuffes point out that, although they defended American independence in the war against England, they did not have the right to vote. Because they lacked input into their political representation despite their contributions to the war, they asked the assembly to consider their request for tax relief especially carefully.

Question

5. Which of the following is true about the authors of both the 1773 petition and the 1780 petition submitted to the Massachusetts assembly?

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is A. The 1773 petitioners asserted that blacks and whites in Massachusetts had the same natural rights, but the 1780 petitioners argued that blacks’ special circumstances warranted their exclusion from the state’s tax requirements. Both groups, however, applied Revolutionary ideology and rhetoric to their own circumstances and justified their conventional legal appeals using those concepts and language.
Incorrect. The correct answer is A. The 1773 petitioners asserted that blacks and whites in Massachusetts had the same natural rights, but the 1780 petitioners argued that blacks’ special circumstances warranted their exclusion from the state’s tax requirements. Both groups, however, applied Revolutionary ideology and rhetoric to their own circumstances and justified their conventional legal appeals using those concepts and language.