When they first arrived in America as slaves in the 1600s, Africans jo

Question

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.   1 
 C 
   The author of the passage is primarily interested in

(A) defending an accepted position on colonial history
(B) analyzing an unproven hypothesis regarding slavery
(C) presenting an alternate view of a historical period
(D) critiquing an outdated theory of colonial development
(E) describing the culmination of a historical trend.

2 
 E 
   The passage suggests which of the following about African American families in colonial New York and New Jersey?

(A) They were not descended from white servant women and African American men.
(B) They were less numerous than African American families in the colonial South.
(C) Most of them were started between 1644 and 1664.
(D) They began with an initial group of fourteen families.
(E) Some of them may have descended from white servant women.

3 
 B 
   Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(A) No free African Americans in the American colonies were the offspring of white slave owners.
(B) Some colonial legislatures passed laws to prevent interbreeding between white colonists and African Americans.
(C) White servants were not as numerous as African American slaves in early America.
(D) Most African Americans in the South were born into slavery.
(E) Records exist to document all births of free African Americans in colonial America.

4 
 A 
   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?

A. Those in New York and New Jersey were primarily descended from freed slaves while those in the South were primarily descended from white women.
B. Those in New York and New Jersey were primarily descended from white women while those in the South were primarily descended from freed slaves
C. Both groups of African Americans were primarily descended from freed slaves, but those in the North had been freed earlier.
D. Both groups of African Americans were primarily descended from freed slaves, but those in the South had been freed earlier.
E. Those in the South could be freed only with legislative permission.

BillyZ · Answer

OFFICIAL 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.”

TheRzS · Answer

Hi Experts, I believe Ans to Q3 is B. Please see link below, I think MGMAT agrees that the Ans is B https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... t4476.html Please correct me if I am wrong. Regards

Skywalker18 · Answer

Hi  TheRzS ,
When I said OA for Q3 was B in the original post, i meant that initially it must have been posted as B as it is evident from the first reply (atomy's)-- see the spoiler . 
Now, I changed the OA for Q3 from D to B .

sagarraj1986 · Answer

In question 3) I am not sure about option B.

The OA is justified through these lines in the passage:
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.

But in GMAT an inference is something that must be true, not something that might be true. From the lines what can surely be inferred is that there were legislation preventing interbreeding between white servant women and african americans. What "might" be inferred (not "must") that the legislation extended to colonial whites too. This is an assumption, or an education guess at best. Cannot agree with the OA here.

sandman13 · Answer

It took me just slightly over 8 mins

to complete all three questions, albeit correctly. How much time should one ideally take on such a passage?

Masterscorp · Answer

You should give yourself up to 3 minutes to read such a passage. Additionally, answering the questions should take approximately 1 minute each. So overall you shouldn't spend way longer than 6 minutes on this passage. However, keep in mind that this is a thumb rule. If you're good on your timing during the test you might wanna take the extra time to get these questions right.

aquaria · Answer

Like  sagarraj1986 , I'm a bit skeptical that B is the OA for Question 3 (I just took MCAT Test #4, it's one of the RC questions there). Maybe  RonPurewal  can provide some insight?

As stated in the official explanation:
 
But that's the thing. B would be correct if we assume that white colonists, in coming to America, brought with them their slaves, therefore making the slaves by extension, white colonists themselves. TECHNICALLY, the passage supports this ("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."). Here's the big but though. B specifically says "interbreeding  between white colonists  and African Americans." That implies BOTH white colonist masters and their white servants.
You're all probably thinking by now that I'm splitting hairs at this point, but the passage does make the distinction that while white slaves and masters were part of the larger "colonist" group, so I think it's fair to dissect the question to this degree. Furthermore, the first sentence of par. 2 specifically talks about white servant women, and not white servant masters, so the blanket nature of "white colonists" as in answer B is inaccurate as the passage specifically refers to white slaves and not their white masters: 
 
It's honestly all semantics but it would make more sense imo if B specifically said "Some colonial legislatures passed laws to prevent interbreeding between  white slave women  and African Americans." This removes ambiguity, and by extension, the need to bring in outside assumptions.

Businessconquerer · Answer

Resolve the whole controversy here guys

Q3
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   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.

mira93 · Answer

SajjadAhmad , please add this question

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?

A. Those in New York and New Jersey were primarily descended from freed slaves while those in the South were primarily descended from white women.
B. Those in New York and New Jersey were primarily descended from white women while those in the South were primarily descended from freed slaves
C. Both groups of African Americans were primarily descended from freed slaves, but those in the North had been freed earlier.
D. Both groups of African Americans were primarily descended from freed slaves, but those in the South had been freed earlier.
E. Those in the South could be freed only with legislative permission.

A

KeyurJoshi · Answer

The author of the passage is primarily interested in

Inference:
P1:
"It is therefore a misconception that all African Americans in the pre-Civil War South were slaves."
"Many researchers have also assumed that... However, these cases represent only a small minority of..."

P2 : 
"In fact, despite the efforts of the various colonial legislatures..."

P3: 
"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..."
Overall we can say from the first passage and POE itself that this (C) is an alternative view.

The passage suggests which of the following about African American families in colonial New York and New Jersey?

(A) They were not descended from white servant women and African American men. - last line of the passage suggests that they might be.
(B) They were less numerous than African American families in the colonial South. - We dont know that.
(C) Most of them were started between 1644 and 1664. - Slaves were freed in that period, we dont if the families started then.
(D) They began with an initial group of fourteen families. - 14 families were traced through 3 generations. We dont know for sure that they started with initial 14. It may be more or less.
(E) Some of them may have descended from white servant women. - Correct. Last 2 line of the passage suggests this.

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

(B) Some colonial legislatures passed laws to prevent interbreeding between white colonists and African Americans
Inference : "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."

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?

C,D,E are not mentioned.
B is just opposite of what is given in the last passage. A remains.
A. Those in New York and New Jersey were primarily descended from freed slaves while those in the South were primarily descended from white women.

Inference:

First passage talks about African-american families in South,
"Most free African Americans were actually the descendants of African American men and white servant women..."

Final passage talks about African-american families in NY and NJ,
"The history of free African Americans families in colonial New York and New Jersey, by contrast, is quite different..."
"Most were descended from slaves freed by..."

sssanskaar · Answer

Question1:

A: Opposite. Author is correcting, not defending.
B: There is no "hypothesis"(some strategy to hope that something will work).
C: KEEP IT. Author does clarify things. So, alternate view - Yes.
D: Critiquing -Maybe. But Outdated? - Nowhere it's mentioned.
E: There is no "culmination" (gathering).

Question2:

A: "None of the fourteen families appears to be descended from a white servant woman and an African American man." - Can't generalize for all.
B: No data as such in the passage.
C: "Most were descended from slaves freed by the Dutch West India Company between 1644 and 1664 or by individual owners." - dates are to represent the event when the slaves were freed, and not when colonies started.
D: "Researchers have studied these families, especially a group of fourteen families that scholars have traced through at least three generations." - Researchers have studied just 14 families. Doesn't mean that there were only 14 families.
E: "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." - The last line gives us hint that there might be some exception to the finding. KEEP IT.

Question3:

A: "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." - Can't say None.
B: "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." - Some colonial legislatures passed laws to prevent interbreeding between white colonists and African Americans.? Colonists means settlers. Yes! KEEP IT.
C: No data in the passage
D: No data in the passage
E: No data in the passage. Some records have been highlighted in the passage. But we can't say that records exist to document ALL BIRTHS.

Question4:

A: "Most free African Americans were actually the descendants of African American men and white servant women." "Most were descended from slaves freed by the Dutch West India Company between 1644 and 1664 or by individual owners." - Combine. Yes! KEEP IT.
B: Opposite.
C: No data as such in the passage.
D: No data as such in the passage.
E: "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." - opposite from what is mentioned in the passage.

VerbalBot · Answer

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When they first arrived in America as slaves in the 1600s, Africans jo

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When they first arrived in America as slaves in the 1600s, Africans jo

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