Fourth U.S. president and founder James Madison called America’s engagement in the African slave trade the nation’s “original sin.”
The horrors of chattel slavery would bring down a wrath of biblical proportions, prophesied another founder, Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Like Madison, this third U.S. president was a slaveholder.
Question
Use the passage to answer the question.
Why does the author most likely arrange the sentences in this way?
A. to emphasize how truly horrible slavery and the African slave trade were
B. to illustrate how much damage slavery did to the early United States and its people
C. to focus on the fact that some of the founding fathers were slaveholders themselves
D. to show that early U.S. presidents acknowledged the evils of slavery even while participating in the system
No, I apologize for the confusion. The correct answer is D. to show that early U.S. presidents acknowledged the evils of slavery even while participating in the system. The arrangement of the sentences highlights the contradiction between the acknowledgment of the horrors of slavery by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who were both slaveholders themselves.
I apologize for the confusion. Yes, the answer is D. The arrangement of the sentences is to show that early U.S. presidents like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson acknowledged the evils of slavery even while participating in the system. While they recognized the moral wrongs of slavery, they were still slaveholders themselves.
Is that why the sentences are mostly arranged in that way
So the answer is D and not C?
The author most likely arranges the sentences in this way to:
D. to show that early U.S. presidents acknowledged the evils of slavery even while participating in the system.
By mentioning James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who were both founding fathers and held important positions in the early United States government, the author highlights the fact that even these influential figures recognized the moral wrongs of slavery. This juxtaposition emphasizes the complexity and contradictions of the early U.S. leaders: they participated in and benefited from the slave trade system while also acknowledging its evils.
To determine why the author most likely arranged the sentences in this way, we can analyze the information provided in the passage. The first sentence mentions that James Madison, the fourth U.S. president and a founder, called the African slave trade America's "original sin." The second sentence mentions Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president, who was also a slaveholder and prophesied the wrath that slavery would bring.
By arranging the sentences in this way, the author is highlighting the contradiction between the views and actions of these early U.S. presidents. Both Madison and Jefferson acknowledged the evils of slavery while simultaneously being slaveholders themselves. This arrangement, C. to focus on the fact that some of the founding fathers were slaveholders themselves, best captures the main idea presented in the passage.