By the time the American colonists took up arms against Great Britain

Passage Summary -
The first para talks about the contradiction inherent in the fight undertaken by American's for their independence, when black slavery was deeply entrenched. Abigail claims it is not fair, and also ironic.

The second para tells us that others like Abigail who are also aware of this contradiction are also keen on doing something about this. The passage then illustrates a few examples of efforts taken by them during and after the war to negate this contradiction.

Q1) Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?

(A) The War of Independence produced among many Black Americans a heightened consciousness of the inequities in American society. -The passage suggests that the War made American's more aware of the contradiction and not Black Americans specifically.
(B) The War of Independence strengthened the bonds of slavery of many Black Americans while intensifying their desire to be free. -No mention of bonds of slavery, or the desire of Black Americans to be free in the passage
(C) The War of Independence exposed to many Americans the contradiction of slavery in a country seeking its freedom and resulted in efforts to resolve that contradiction. - Fits the summary of the passage
(D) The War of Independence provoked strong criticisms by many Americans of the institution of slavery, but produced little substantive action against it.-provoked strong criticisms is a bit strong here, but acceptable. The real problem is that no action was taken against the criticisms, when there clearly were some actions taken to try and abolish slavery.
(E) The War of Independence renewed the efforts of many American groups toward achieving Black emancipation. -There is no mention in the passage of efforts taken before the American's took to arms against Britain. At best, it supports efforts taken during or after the War.

IMO C

2. The passage contains information that would support which of the following statements about the colonies before the War of Independence?

(A) They contained organized antislavery societies. -The time frame for this is unclear in the passage. From the passage, we can assume it could have taken place during the War or after.
(B) They allowed individuals to own slaves. -It is mentioned in the passage that individuals "manumitted" their slaves (which from context seems to mean "liberated"). This could only happen if they had slaves to begin with before the War
(C) They prohibited religious groups from political action. -No mention of this in the passage
(D) They were inconsistent in their legal definitions of slave status. -No mention of this in the passage
(E) They encouraged abolitionist societies to expand their influence. -No mention of this in the passage

IMO B

3. According to the passage, the War of Independence was embarrassing to some Americans for which of the following reasons?

I. It involved a struggle for many of the same liberties that Americans were denying to others. -Mentioned in the passage
II. It involved a struggle for independence from the very nation that had founded the colonies. -No mention of Britain being the founding nation
III. It involved a struggle based on inconsistencies in the participants’ conceptions of freedom. - There were no inconsistencies in conceptions, just a contradiction

(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) I and II only
(D) I and III only
(E) I, II, and III

IMO A

Q4) Which of the following statements regarding American society in the years immediately following the War of Independence is best supported by the passage?

(A) The unexpected successes of the antislavery societies led to their gradual demise in the Eastern states. -No mention of this in the passage
(B) Some of the newly independent American states had begun to make progress toward abolishing slavery.-Eastern States are mentioned to have moved towards emancipating slaves after the War. KEEP
(C) Americans like Abigail Adams became disillusioned with the slow progress of emancipation and gradually abandoned the cause.-No mention of Abigail abandoning the cause.
(D) Emancipated slaves gradually were accepted in the Eastern states as equal members of American society. -This is a bit of a stretch, since there is no mention of the emancipated slaves being accepted into society as equals. while this is definitely possible, the passage states nothing to support this.
(E) The abolition of slavery in many Eastern states was the result of close cooperation between religious groups and free Blacks.-No mention of this
in the passage

IMO B