Directions: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions as follows:
Passage
When they first arrived in America as slaves in the 1600s, Africans joined a society that was divided between master and white servants brought from Europe. In most parts of the South, some of these first African slaves became free either through escape or through emancipation by their owners. It is therefore a misconception that all African Americans in the pre-Civil War South were slaves. Many researchers have also assumed that these free African Americans were the offspring of white slave owners who took advantage of their female slaves. However, these cases represent only a small minority of free African Americans in the South. Most free African Americans were actually the descendants of African American men and white servant women.
In fact, despite the efforts of the various colonial legislatures, white servant women continued to bear children by African American fathers through the late seventeenth century and well into the eighteenth century. It appears that such births were the primary source of the increase in the free African American population for this period. Over two hundred African American families in Virginia descended from white women. Forty-six families descended from freed slaves, twenty-nine from Indians, and sixteen from white men who married or had children by free African American women. It is likely that the majority of the remaining families descended from white women since they first appear in court records in the mid-eighteenth century, when slaves could not be freed without legislative approval, and there is no record of legislative approval for their emancipations.
The history of free African Americans families in colonial New York and New Jersey, by contrast, is quite different from that of free African Americans in the South. Most were descended from slaves freed by the Dutch West India Company between 1644 and 1664 or by individual owners. Researchers have studied these families, especially a group of fourteen families that scholars have traced through at least three generations. None of the fourteen families appears to be descended from a white servant woman and an African American man. However, Lutheran church records from the eighteenth century show that a few such couples had children baptized.
Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 39
Try yourself:The passage suggests which of the following about African American families in colonial New York and New Jersey?
Explanation
African American families in colonial New York and New Jersey are discussed in the last paragraph of the passage. The correct answer will be the one that can be supported by the facts presented in that paragraph.
(A) This statement is contradicted by the last sentence of the passage: “However, Lutheran church records from the eighteenth century show that a few such couples [white servant women and African American men] had children baptized."
(B) The topic sentence of the third paragraph states that “the history of free African American families in colonial New York and New Jersey, by contrast, is quite different from that of free African Americans in the South.” The focus is on the different histories of the two groups, but there is no discussion of their relative numbers.
(C) The dates 1644 and 1664 are mentioned in the paragraph as the years when the Dutch West India Company freed slaves in the area. This does not suggest that the families were started between 1644 and 1664.
(D) According to the last paragraph, researchers have studied fourteen families of free African Americans in New York and New Jersey, but the passage does not suggest that those fourteen families were the “initial group” from which the others grew.
(E) CORRECT: The last two sentences of the passage read: "None of the fourteen families appears to be descended from a white servant woman and an African American man. However, Lutheran church records in the eighteenth century show that a few such couples had children baptized." The last sentence especially suggests that although none of the fourteen families studied by researchers descended from white servant women, church records indicate that some such families seem to have existed at that time.
Report a problem
Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 39
Try yourself:Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
Explanation
On the GMAT, a correct inference is not a guess about what might be true, but rather a statement of what must be true based on the facts presented in the passage. Be careful to justify your answer with proof from the passage.
(A) This statement is too extreme; we cannot infer that no free African Americans in the American colonies were the offspring of white slave owners. In fact, the first paragraph states that “these cases [offspring of white slave owners] represent only a small minority of free African Americans in the South,” and a small minority is certainly more than none.
(B) CORRECT: The second paragraph begins with "despite the efforts of the various colonial legislatures, white servant women continued to bear children by African American fathers through the late seventeenth century and well into the eighteenth century." This implies that the legislatures took action to prevent these births.
(C) The first sentence of the passage states that “Africans joined a society that was divided between master and white servants brought from Europe,” but the number of people in each group was never discussed.
(D) The second paragraph focuses on the history of a number of free African American families in the South. However, the passage did not provide any information about the number of African American in the South who had been born into slavery.
(E) This statement is too extreme; we cannot infer that all births of free African Americans in colonial America were documented, or that all such records still exist. The passage mentions some court records in the second paragraph, and some Lutheran church records in the third paragraph, but these references do not provide enough information to allow us to make this inference.
Report a problem
Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 39
Try yourself:According to the passage, which of the following is a difference between free African Americans in colonial New York and New Jersey and free African Americans in the colonial South?
Explanation
The correct answer is A. The last paragraph states: "The history of free African Americans families in colonial New York and New Jersey, by contrast, is quite different from that of free African Americans in the South. Most were descended from slaves freed by the Dutch West India Company between 1644 and 1664 or by individual owners." The first paragraph states: "However, these cases represent only a small minority of free African Americans in the South. Most free African Americans were actually the descendants of African American men and white servant women." Taken together, these excepts support choice A.
Report a problem
Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 39
Try yourself:The passage suggests which of the following about African American slaves in the late 1700s?
Explanation
The eighteenth century is mentioned in the second paragraph, primarily to discuss the fact that “white servant women continued to bear children by African American fathers through the late seventeenth century and well into the eighteenth century.” What this paragraph suggests about African American slaves at that time will be the correct answer.
(A) The passage discusses the births and family histories of free African Americans, not whether they were permitted to own land.
(B) The passage discusses the births and family histories of free African Americans, not what trades they were or were not allowed to practice.
(C) In the first paragraph, the passage states that in the 1600s, “some of these first African slaves became free, either through escape or through emancipation.” The passage did not discuss how slaves could become free in the late 1700s, or whether they could buy their freedom from their owners. In fact, the last sentence in the second paragraph states that “slaves could not be freed without legislative approval,” so even if slaves could buy freedom, additional legislative approval would have been required.
(D) CORRECT: The end of the second paragraph states that "it is likely that the majority of the remaining families descended from white women since they first appear in court records in the mid-eighteenth century, when slaves could not be freed without legislative approval, and there is no record of legislative approval for their emancipations." This implies that the African American men were not free when they fathered children with these white women.
(E) The statement that there were no African American slaves in colonial New York or New Jersey is too extreme; it cannot be supported by the passage. In the third paragraph, the passage discusses free African Americans in New York and New Jersey, but we cannot say with certainty that there were no enslaved African Americans in these states in the late 1700s
Report a problem
Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 39
Try yourself:The author of the passage is primarily interested in
Explanation
When answering any question about the author’s primary interest, purpose, or intent, we must take the entirety of the passage into account without misrepresenting its focus. Typically, the opening paragraph and the topic sentences of each paragraph will reveal the focus of the passage. In the opening paragraph of this passage, the author discusses some misconceptions and assumptions about African Americans in the colonial and pre-Civil War periods, ending the paragraph with the statement that “most free African Americans were actually the descendants of African American men and white servant women.” The subsequent paragraphs are dedicated to discussing these descendants.
(A) The author does not defend an accepted position, but instead provides evidence that contradicts some misconceptions and assumptions about colonial history.
(B) The author presents historical facts about African Americans. The author does not present or analyze an unproven hypothesis.
(C) CORRECT: The author presents facts, and the alternate view that can be drawn from them, of a historical period.
(D) The author does not critique an outdated theory, but instead presents facts that are contradictory to some stated misconceptions and assumptions. Also, the passage does not focus on “colonial development,” but rather a certain segment of the population in colonial times.
(E) The author does not discuss a “trend,” or describe its “culmination.”
Report a problem
