PT101.S4.P4.Q25

PrepTest 101 - Section 4 - Passage 4 - Question 25

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P1

Two impressive studies have reexamined Eric Williams' conclusion that Britain's abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and its emancipation of slaves in its colonies in 1834 were driven primarily by economic rather than humanitarian motives. ████████ ██ ████████ █████ █████████████ ███ ███ ████████████ ██ ███████ ██████ █████ █████████ █████████ ██ █████████ ███ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███████ ████████ █████████

Two Challenges to Williams' Conclusion · That British abolitionist movement was primarily driven by economics.
Williams argues that the slave colonies were becoming a drag on the British economy. That's why Britain abolished slavery, not because they thought it was wrong. But two studies question that conclusion.
P2

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1. Drescher's View · Populism drove abolition
Drescher downplays economics and morality. Instead argues that it was populist political activism that drove abolition.
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Author Concession / Skepticism · Drescher's explanation incomplete
Author thinks that Drescher doesn't explain how England could have mobilized such popular support.
P3

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2. Eltis' View · Partially supportive of Williams' conclusion
Apparently Eltis does answer the question that the author faults Drescher for not answering...
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2. Eltis' View · Disagrees with Drescher
Eltis disagrees with Drescher's view that the British traditions of liberty powered abolition.
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2. Eltis' View · Economics drove abolition
Eltis thinks that "want creation" made slave labor inappropriate and counterproductive.
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2. Eltis' conclusion · Williams was partly right, partly wrong
It is economics that drove abolition; just not what Williams thought. The slave colonies' economies were fine. But slave labor wasn't good for the broader economy of the British empire.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
Show answer
25.

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a

accurately stated

Anti-supported. The author calls Drescher’s view an “idealization,” which suggests she thinks Drescher was being overly positive, rather than accurate, about British traditions of liberty.

10%
b

somewhat unrealistic

Supported. We get a hint of the author’s view on this when she calls Drescher’s view an “idealization.” The author must think Drescher was being excessively positive, and so not entirely realistic, about British traditions of liberty.

53%
c

carefully researched

Slightly anti-supported. The only commentary the author gives on the quality of Drescher’s research is that he fails to explain how abolition gained such widespread support across class boundaries. If anything, the author seems to think that Drescher’s research isn’t good enough.

12%
d

unnecessarily tentative

Anti-supported. The author calls Drescher’s view an “idealization,” which suggests she thinks Drescher was being excessively positive—i.e., not reserved or tentative enough—in how he presents British traditions of liberty.

5%
e

superficially convincing

Unsupported. For this to be right, the author would have to suggest that Drescher’s explanation looks good at first glance. But she doesn’t suggest that. She simply lays out Drescher’s argument, notes that it fails to answer a key question, and then calls his view an “idealization, meaning she thinks Drescher was being overly positive about British traditions of liberty.

20%

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