Sugar Changed the World, Part 5: Developing and Refining Ideas
Question 9 • FL-1001340-English 2 Sem 1 - Flex
Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.In the sugar colonies, the wounds of slavery were never far beneath the surface. The Africans who had worked in sugar quickly left the plantations and tried to farm or moved to nearby towns. As one planter said, it made no sense to believe that "the Negro would become a grateful and cheerful free laborer on the soil which had been watered by his tears in slavery.” But what could the former slaves do? Every Indian who accepted the paltry wages specified in the indenture contract lowered the price an African could charge for his labor.
Answer
A
Why did Indians come to work on the plantations?
B
Why did Africans leave the plantations to farm elsewhere?
C
Why did the Indians accept low wages for work on plantations?
D
Why did indenture contracts include low wages for Africans?
Explanation
The passage explains that Africans left the plantations to farm or move to nearby towns because the plantations were tied to their experience of slavery. The planter’s statement about the soil being “watered by his tears in slavery” supports this reason. The passage mentions Indians’ low wages only to show how indentured labor affected the wages Africans could demand; it does not explain why Indians accepted those wages.
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